


Suicide Mission ( Daryl Dixon x Reader )

by Sourwolf_sterek32



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Badass Reader, Daryl Needs a Hug, F/M, Hurt Daryl Dixon, Merle deserves more love, Past Abuse, Protective Daryl Dixon, The reader had a crossbow and can kick ass, childhood best friends, hurt reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-08-24 21:01:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 67,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16647710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sourwolf_sterek32/pseuds/Sourwolf_sterek32
Summary: Before the whole world turned to shit, you lived next door to the Dixon's. You grew close to the Dixon brothers over the years. You and Daryl quickly becoming best friend, despite your massive  crush on him, (which at the time, you didn't know he returned).You weren't with him when the outbreak started, but against all odds you managed to find him while helping a random group of strangers on the road. It seemed like fate always found a way, even during the apocalypse.(Set during Season 3 of TWD and will follow the seasons basic storyline through yours and Daryl's eyes)





	1. Chapter 1

  
_Before..._

_When you first met him you were 12... well by 'met him' you mean spotting him watching you from the front porch of his house while you helped your mother and her boyfriend unload the last of the boxes and suitcases, into the house next door._

_You and your mother had just moved into the neighbourhood to live with her boyfriend and if you were being honest, you couldn't think of anything worse. That man hated you with a passion. Always glaring at you and yelling at you to get him another beer or to get out of his way. He was nothing like your real father. Your father was the most kind-hearted man you knew, he always had a smile on his face, helped you with your homework, comforted you when you were sad and treated your mother like a queen. He bought out the best in both of you, but after he passed away your mother had changed. She still loved you, that would never change, but she wasn't the same and started wasting money on alcohol and began hooking up with whoever she managed to drag home from the bar that night._

_You were used to it though. Waking up in the mornings to go to school to find your mother and a man you had never met before passed out on the couch, empty beer bottles and cigarette butts covering the floor. But after a while you began to find the same guy on the couch with her. He was always at the house and after a few years once you moved into his house, you began to realise your mother was in a very toxic relationship. He controlled her and she did whatever he wanted, but she couldn't leave him, she didn't want to. She needed him, you both needed him otherwise you would end up on the streets. He had money and you guys had nothing and he made damn sure you both knew that. Your mother couldn't afford to keep the house, all her money spent on alcohol and other useless items. So, you didn't argue when she told you to pack your things, glad that you didn't have to live on the streets, but it came at a cost. A pretty big cost._

_Her boyfriend, Frank, wasn't the friendliest man. When he got angry, which was pretty often, he would get violent and you always copped the brunt of his anger. It just started off with him yelling at you and throwing things against walls, but after a few months it became physical. You were only 12, you weren't strong enough to protect yourself from him and your mother never stepped in to help whenever he'd start beating you, but you were glad she didn't because if she did then he would do it to her too._

_Moving into a new neighbourhood meant moving to a new school, it was only a 20-minute walk down the road from Frank's house. But you hated school, none of the other kids wanted to talk to the weird new girl, but you didn't care. You enjoyed being alone, it was better that way, but you noticed one other kid who seemed to be a bit of a loner like you. Daryl. He would sit at the very back of the class rooms and only spoke when the teacher asked him a question. During lunches he would sit with a few other misfits from class, but he never seemed to join their conversations. A few days later while you walked home from school you realised he was the same boy you had seen earlier that week watching you when you first moved into the house next door._

_It wasn't until nearly a year later that the two of you actually spoke for the first time. It happened while you were walking across the road by the traffic lights._

_You were waiting for the little green flashing light to appear, so you could cross the road, when Daryl appeared. You both usually met at that crossing, leaving for school at the same time. You gave him a nod as he approached and he nodded in return before you turned back to the road, just as the light turned green._

_You began crossing the road, not even thinking to check for cars since your light was green, but Daryl obviously checked because not a second later you heard him shout your name. Suddenly he grabbed the strap of your backpack, pulling you out the way as a familiar red truck sped past you, missing you with only centimetres to spare._

_You both fell backwards from the force, landing on the hard cement. He quickly stood up, taking your hand as he helped you to your feet and guided you back onto the safety of the footpath._

_"Ya alright?" He asked, quickly pulling his hand away from yours as a slight blush creeped to his cheeks, but you didn't notice. You were still in shock from what just happened. You were nearly hit by a car and Daryl saved your life. Holy shit. "Y/N?" He questioned, snapping you out of your thoughts as you looked over at him and if you weren't mistaken he looked almost concerned._

_"Thank you." You suddenly said as you rubbed your face with your hands, trying to get yourself to focus. It's not every day that you nearly get hit by a car. "Seriously, thank you. I would've been roadkill for sure."_

_"It's was nothin'." Daryl replied with a shrug, picking up your school bag that you didn't even realise you had dropped before he handed it back to you and you smiled. "Wasn't that Frank's truck?" He asked and you sighed, but nodded. Of course Daryl knew who Frank was, everyone down your street knew exactly who he was and stayed away from him, for reasons such as what just happened a few minutes ago._

_"Yep. Probably still fucking drunk from last night." You muttered, glancing in the direction of your house before looking back at Daryl who was staring at you with an unreadable look._

_"We should probably get to school, we'll be late enough as it is." He said after a few seconds of silence and you nodded, pulling your bag over your back._

_"I already got detention, might as well make it worth it." You responded with a laugh causing Daryl to snort with a slight smile before the two of you walked to school together._

_After that day, that crossing became your meeting spot and the two of you always walked to school together. Sometimes you would start a conversation about something random, but other times you would walk in silence. It was never awkward though, it was a comfortable silence between the two of you, enjoying each others company as you dreaded the day ahead at school._

_You both quickly became good friends. Sitting next to each other during classes, hanging out together during recess and lunch and if one of you got detention the other would make sure they did as well._

_You had this unspoken connection between each other and always stuck together. You both lived in abusive homes. Neither of you had to say it out loud for the other to know. You could hear his father yelling and shouting inside their rundown house from your bedroom and the next day after one of his outburst Daryl always rocked up to school with some sort of bruise, it didn't take a rocket scientist to put the connections together. And you knew Daryl would be able to hear Frank yelling and breaking shit in your house most nights, the whole damn neighbourhood probably heard him. But lucky for you, you were able to cover up and hide the bruises he would inflict on you with a little bit of makeup so nobody would ask questions, but Daryl knew. He always knew, but he never said anything, knowing you didn't want to talk about it._

_As the years went on, the two of you became closer. You met his older brother Merle and although he seemed like a jackass at first, you soon realised he wasn't as bad as what everyone thought. You hated how he would always pick on Daryl and make fun of him, but you could tell that it was his own screwed up way in showing that he loved him. Merle protected Daryl, looked out for him. He was still a ginormus dick and could get on your nerves very quickly, but he knew how much Daryl cared about you and he made an effort to tone his shit down whenever you were around._

_By the time you were in your twenties you were working at the local truck stop serving tables. The pay wasn't great, but it was a job and you needed the money if you ever wanted to get a house, so you and your mother could leave Frank._

_You knew soon that Daryl and Merle were gonna leave their father and take off without any destination or plan in mind. They both just wanted to get away from their father and this shitty neighbourhood and you didn't blame them. If you could you would up and leave too, but you couldn't leave your mother here with Frank and Daryl knew that. Which was why early one morning, you were standing outside by Daryl's truck saying goodbye to the brothers before the set off. They tried to get you to come along with them, but they knew you could never leave your mother with Frank._

_"Ya shouldn't stay here. A pretty girl like you wouldn't last a day in this neighbourhood without us Dixon brothers watching over ya." Merle stated attempting to sound mean, but you could hear the concern behind his tone and you smiled._

_"I ain't the same scared little 12 year old who just moved in next door to you. I can take care of myself now." You responded crossing your arms over your chest as you stared at Merle who grinned, with a nod before climbing into the truck, giving you and Daryl some time to say goodbye._

_"I know ya can handle yourself, but just be careful alright?" Daryl suddenly said, taking a few steps closer to you now that Merle wasn't in the way._

_"I always am. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. In a few years I'll be able to get my mother and I out of this shithole of a town and away from her shithead of a boyfriend. Then I can join you boys on whatever the hell you guys are planning on doing." You stated motioning towards the truck and Merle's motorcycle sitting in the back of it before you pulled Daryl in for a hug wrapping your arms over his shoulders as he pulled you in tightly, his arms around your waist._

_"This ain't goodbye. I promise I will come back." He whispered and you shook your head as you pulled away slightly._

_"You are getting out of this crappy life. I don't want to hold you back, you deserve to be happy, Daryl." You said, giving him a gentle kiss on his cheek ignoring how both your cheeks blushed at the contact._

_"Y/N! Where the hell are you?!" Frank's voice shouted from inside the house and you looked over your shoulder, to find the lights being turned on through the windows._

_"Go. You know what happened last time." You quickly said referring to the time Frank shot at the tyres of his truck last time he saw the two of you together._

_"If he hurts ya-" Daryl began to say glancing over your shoulder towards your house before you cut him off._

_"You taught me how to defend myself. If he touches me or my mother he knows I'll fight back." You responded, but before Daryl could respond you heard the front door of your house slam open and you knew it was Frank._

_"Get the fuck inside, right now!" Frank yelled and you quickly pushed Daryl towards his truck, not knowing if Frank had his gun out or not, but you weren't willing to wait around to find out._

_"Daryl you need to go. Just remember I love you." You said with a sad smile and Daryl just stared at you in shock after what you just said. You felt your cheeks blushing slightly as you admitted your feelings. You knew there was something more between you and Daryl, but neither of you wanted to say it, afraid that you might ruin your friendship. But Merle was constantly telling you that Daryl loved you and that you should just grow some balls and ask him out, because he wasn't going to make the first step, but you were always too scared to say it. But right now you knew you had to. If you didn't say it then and never saw him again then you would hate yourself forever._

_You could feel tears rising in your eyes as you watched Daryl climb into the truck, but you refused to let them spill. You could hear Frank yelling from behind you, but in that moment all you were focused on was Daryl who was already looking at you with sad eyes as the truck began to drive off. You gave the brothers a gentle wave and Merle honked the horn in response causing you to laugh softly as you watched Daryl's silver truck drive off down the road._

Now...

You walked into the small abandon town cautiously. You had your crossbow held up as you scanned the streets around you, looking for any sign of people dead or alive. It wasn't the walkers you were particularly worried about, you knew how to handle them. It was the living that you were sceptical about, it was amazing what people would do these days for food and supplies. Which was why you tended to stick to the woods, you grew up always exploring and hunting in the woods with Daryl. He was the one who taught you how to track and hunt, even taught you how to shoot his crossbow and once you were old enough and had enough money, you bought yourself one too.

You slowly made your way down the street, going from house to house. Usually you'd stick to the woods, away from any man-made structures knowing they were usually surrounded by walkers, but you were desperate. You were running low on supplies and hunting was slowly getting more difficult as animals were getting harder to come by.

You walked across the road to the next house. It was a large two-story building, the kind of house you'd only see in your dreams. It was massive and none of the windows or doors looked to be broken so you figured it was worth checking out.

You walked up to the front door, hitting the butt of your crossbow against the wooden frame as you waited to see if any walkers were inside, but after a few seconds of silence you deemed the place clear and made your way inside.

It was as if the apocalypse had missed this house because it looked to be in perfect condition, as if the outside world was perfectly normal. Tables, chairs, couches, photo frames, book shelves, you name it and it was all still neatly standing in this house. How has nobody scavenged this house yet?

You slowly wandered through each of the rooms down stairs, before you found the kitchen. You walked around the long breakfast bench as you reached the row of cupboards and opened the first one and your jaw dropped. Canned food. Rows and rows of canned food. Beans, Tuna, spaghetti sauce, peaches, apples, soup, so many different canned foods all in the one cupboard. Jackpot!

"Christmas came early." You mumbled to yourself before you stood up and made your way towards the stairs, knowing you needed to check the rest of the house to make sure it was all clear before you got too excited over the food.

As you reached the top of the stairs you spotted two open doors that lead to a couple of bedrooms and one closed door to your right with a sign hanging from the door knob that said 'Scott's Room. Keep Out.' You smiled at the sign before opening the door and quickly jumped backwards as a walker staggered out the room towards you.

"God damnit, Scott." You muttered bringing your crossbow up and aiming it at the walker's head before you squeezed the trigger as the walker fell to the ground. "Guess even rich people with nice houses couldn't win against the apocalypse." You said to yourself as you retrieved the crossbow bolt from the walker's head before reloading your crossbow as you finished checking the rest of the rooms.

You found a medicine cabinet in one of the bathrooms and began filling your backpack up with ones you thought might come in handy. There were a few bottles of painkillers and antibiotics, a bunch of alcohol wipes and bandages which you knew would probably come in handy at some point.

After you finished raiding the medicine you found a small handheld torch and tucked it into the side pocket of your backpack for easy access before you made your way back to the kitchen. You started filling the rest of your bag full of canned food that hadn't expired yet and few bottles of water you found in another cupboard.

Once you checked every cupboard you walked over to the refrigerator and without thinking you opened it. You thought there might have been something useful in there, but as soon as you opened it, you quickly closed it again and began coughing from the horrendous smell.

"Holy shit." You gasped covering your nose as you mentally cursed yourself for not thinking about all the off food that was in the fridge. That was possibly the dumbest thing you had done in weeks. At least there was nobody around to laugh or judge you.

That night you dragged the cushions from the couches out onto the balcony on the second floor. You laid the cushions on the floor next to the railing before you retrieved a pillow and a blanket from one of the bedrooms before making your way outside onto the balcony as you shut the door behind you. There was just something about being up high that made you feel safe, plus you had the view of the whole street from were you were, so you could keep an eye out for any herds of walkers that may wander through so you could leave before being trapped in the house.

You stood on the balcony looking out along the horizon as the sun began to set while you fiddled with the silver chain bracelet that was around your left wrist. It was the only thing you had to remind you of Daryl these days. He had given it to you as an apology/thank you gift a few days after you had to bail him out after Merle got caught with drugs or something stupid, but Daryl took the blame knowing that if Merle got caught doing something illegal again then he would be sentenced to jail.

_"What the fuck were you thinking?!" You shouted, slamming the car door shut as you stared at the police station across the road._

_"I was thinkin' I didn't want Merle back in prison!" Daryl snapped from the passenger seat as you pulled the keys out your pocket and started the ignition._

_"_ _This is the third time in two months that I've had to bail you out, Daryl." You stated sternly. You were sick of Daryl having to pay the price for Merle's actions, he didn't deserve this._

_"I know, I'm sorry." Daryl suddenly said, his tone turning from angry to gentle in a split second and you could feel him watching you as you turned to meet his gaze._

_"Just don't let it happen again." You sighed before you put Daryl's truck into reverse as you pulled out of the car park._

_A few days later you were out the front of your house, going off at Frank for giving your mother a black eye._

_"Don't you touch her again!" You shouted pushing Frank backwards as he took a step towards you. You had never fought back against him before, but right now you were furious. You didn't care if he hurt you, but hurting your mother was a big no no._

_You glared at Frank as you spotted Daryl and Merle out the corner of your eye, walking out from their garage after hearing all the commotion._

_"What are you gonna do about it you little bitch?" Frank shouted taking a step closer to you, but before you could respond his fist suddenly collided with your cheek bone. The force of the hit nearly sent you on your ass, but you managed to keep your feet._

_"Stop. Please stop." Your mother begged from the house, but you didn't listen as you kicked Frank in the balls, using his moment of surprise to your advantage as you swung your fist, punching him in the jaw._

_You could see the shock and anger in his eyes, but before he could retaliate Daryl and Merle were standing by your side glaring at Frank._

_"This doesn't concern you boys!" Frank shouted staring at the two next to you but they shook their heads. "I'll tell your father-" Frank began to threaten before Daryl cut him off._

_"He doesn't give a shit what we do. He would be more pissed at ya for disturbing him, if ya go talk to him!" Daryl stated crossing his arms over his chest and Merle did the same. You had to stop yourself from smiling at the sight of the Dixon brothers beside you, they always had your back._

_"I'm getting my gun!" Frank shouted before he stormed off heading towards the house and you knew he was going to grab his shotgun._

_"Yeah, you better run!" Merle yelled over his shoulder as you all watched Frank slam the front door shut behind him._

_"You okay?" Daryl asked lifting your chin up towards him so he could take in the bruise that was already forming over your left cheek._

_"I'm fine. You guys should probably go before he comes back." You replied motioning over your shoulder towards the house as you looked between the two brothers._

_"That's probably a good idea. See ya around Y/N." Merle replied with a wave before he walked off back to his house leaving you and Daryl standing by yourselves._

_"I got ya somethin' to say sorry and to thank ya for bailing me out the other day." Daryl suddenly said once Merle was out of earshot and you watched him curiously as he pulled out a silver bracelet from his pocket. "It's not much, but-"_

_"It's beautiful!" You quickly responded as you clipped it around your wrist taking in the chained bracket and you smiled noticing a small arrow charm dangling from it. It was perfect._

_You glanced up at Daryl who was smiling at your sudden happiness before you looked back down at the bracelet on your wrist._

_"Thank you, Daryl. But I'm still angry about you needing bail though." You stated with a slight grin and Daryl rolled his eyes, but nodded._

You smiled at the old memory as you placed your backpack on the floor of the balcony next to the cushions, along with your crossbow but you kept your hunting knife in its holder through your belt and your Glock 19 handgun that was in your gun holster that was strapped to your thigh. That way if someone or something happened to sneak up on you during the night, you wouldn't be defenceless.

-

You woke up to the sound of voices shouting and it took you a few seconds to actually process the fact that you shouldn't be able to hear people shouting in the world you lived in. You quickly sat up in your makeshift bed, grabbing your crossbow from besides you as you glanced through the railing of the balcony trying to pinpoint the source of noise.

The sun was beginning to rise along the horizon causing you to squint as you scanned the street in front of you until your eyes landed on a group of people. Maybe nine or ten people trying to fight off nearly 20 walkers which wasn't including the other dozen or so that were making their way towards them from further up the street.

You sat there watching them fight off the walkers for a few seconds as you contemplated whether you should go help them or not. But once your eyes landed on the old man and a woman who was clearly heavily pregnant, you knew you couldn't just turn a blind eye to them. They were going to get themselves killed, you thought to yourself before the sound of guns firing filled the air and you relaised they were starting to shoot the walkers. Yep, they were definitely gonna get themselves killed if they keep shooting those loud guns.

You quickly slipped your backpack on over your shoulders and slung your crossbow over your shoulder as well before you carefully but quickly climbed over the railing of the balcony and cautiously made your way down to the ground.

Once your feet hit the hard ground you took off running towards the group of people as they struggled against the walkers. You spotted a man, who seemed to be the leader of the group as he was the only one shouting instructions to the others. Suddenly a walker jumped at him causing him to drop his gun as he held the walker by the shoulders to stop it from biting his face.

You could tell he was struggling and without hesitation you quickly aimed your crossbow at the back of the walkers head and squeezed the trigger. You saw the man jump in surprise as he watched the walker drop to the ground dead before his eyes landed on you and you gave him a nod. You didn't know what else to do to try show that you weren't a threat to him and you sighed with relief when he nodded back before he continued taking out the walkers around him. Good, this group didn't seem like they were bad, you thought to yourself before you slung your crossbow over your shoulder as you pulled your knife out and began taking out the nearest walkers.

You noticed a young boy wearing a Sheriffs hat to your right and you gave him a small smile before turning away and taking down the walker that tried sneaking up to you on your left. You zoned out the group of people as you zeroed in on the walkers around you, slamming your knife into their skulls when you spotted a woman about your age and an Asian man struggling with five walkers that trapped them away from the rest of the group.

You quickly made your way towards them, stabbing a few stray walkers in your path before you put your knife away and pulled your crossbow out taking down the walker about to bite the woman before slamming the end of your crossbow into the heads of the other walkers. The two of them froze for a split second when they spotted you, but they quickly snapped out of it and began helping you take down the rest of the walkers until there were no more left.

"Thank you." The woman suddenly said between breaths and you nodded wiping the sweat off your forehead before you reached down, taking your bolt out of the walker's head.

You began reloading your crossbow as you heard footsteps come up behind you, but you didn't bother turning around knowing it was the rest of the group as you continued reloading the crossbow.

"Who are you and why did you help us?" A male voice questioned as you slung your crossbow over your shoulder before turning around to find the same guy standing behind you.

"What the hell were you thinking? Do you know how loud that damn revolver is? You would have attracted every walker within a five mile radius to this place." You suddenly shouted pointing to the gun in the mans hand as he stared at you with uncertainty. You glanced at the rest of his people as they began walking over to you. You spotted the pregnant woman and old man, as well as the boy with the Sheriff's hat and a few other new faces you didn't notice earlier. Suddenly you froze as you spotted a familiar leather vest with angle wings on the back of a man who was reloading his own crossbow and you instantly knew it was him. You could spot that vest and that bow from anywhere. It was Daryl. 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

  
"Daryl?" You called, your voice suddenly soft and shaky, but he clearly heard it as his head whipped around in your direction and his eyes went wide with shock as he spotted you. It was him. His hair was a little darker and longer than the last time you saw him, but that was years ago before the world turned to shit when he left with Merle. He was more tanned as well, but still wore the same style clothes, the denim jeans and sleeveless shirt under his leather vest. He was still the same guy you had fallen in love with all those years ago, the same guy who you never thought you'd see again.

"Y/N?" Daryl questioned in shock before he ran over to you and within a split second you were in his arms and you couldn't hold back your emotions anymore as you began to cry. Daryl was alive. He was alive and you found him. "I'm sorry. I never said back. I love ya Y/N. I'm so sorry for leaving ya." Daryl whispered as he hugged you tightly, resting his head in the crook of your neck.

"I missed you so much, Dixon." You replied as he pulled away from you slightly, cupping your cheeks in his hands before his lips hit yours. It was soft but passionate as he lowered one of his hands from your cheeks as he wrapped it around your waist pulling you closer until there was no space left between the two of you as you kissed him back. Your lips fitting together like two puzzle pieces and when you finally broke away he looked at you, wiping the tears from your cheeks with his thumb.

"Well I'm guessing you two know each other." The same mans voice stated bringing the two of you back to the real world as you both turned around to face the rest of the group and Daryl nodded.

"This is my girl, Y/N. Ya can trust her, she's good." Daryl finally said and you were unable to hide your smile after hearing him call you 'his girl'. You glanced around at the members of Daryl's group and they were all looking at the two of you with smiles and surprised looks on their faces.

"Yeah, I kinda worked that out when she saved my life, well all of our lives. Thank you by the way, I'm Rick Grimes. This is my son Carl, T-Dog, Lori, Carol, Glen, Hershel and his daughters Maggie and Beth." Rick introduced motioning to the different people and you nodded, taking mental notes of everyone's names and faces. But you quickly realised Merle wasn't there and suddenly your heart dropped as you realised what must of happened. There was no way Daryl would leave his brother... unless he wasn't here anymore.

"Thank you helping us and I'm glad Daryl finally found the girl he has told me so much about. It's good to finally meet you." Carol suddenly said bringing you from your thoughts as you glanced up at Daryl who blushed slightly and you smiled before spotting a few walkers walking down the road towards the group of you.

"We need to get out of here. Those gunshots would have attracted more. Do you guys have any cars?" You questioned glancing over at Rick, knowing he was the leader of the group and he nodded pointing to the vehicles parked by the intersection and without any further word you all began walking towards the cars.

You stuck by Daryl's side as you walked with everyone, not really trusting these new people yet, but you figured if Daryl trusted them then they weren't bad people.

"C'mon, ya riding with me." Daryl suddenly said taking your hand as the others all began climbing into the cars. Wait did he say ride?

"No way! You still have this?" You suddenly questioned as you spotted Merle's old motorcycle parked next to one of the cars and Daryl smiled softly at your excitement. He sat down on the bike and you followed sitting behind him, wrapping your arms around his waist as he started the bike up and began riding down the road. You rested your head against his back as one of his hands gently covered yours on his stomach and you smiled at the small touch, remembering back when Daryl had taken you for your first motorcycle ride.

_You had just gotten back from a quick hunting trip with Daryl, the two of you escaping out into the woods after school. It had been a long day for the both of you after having to sit through two hours of detention for not finishing your stupid History assignment. Neither of you had time to do the assignment outside of school and the teacher never gave you class time to actually do it, so you had to finish it during detention. It was bullshit and Daryl tried arguing with the teacher about it which only resulted in him getting detention for the rest of the week._

_"Hey, Merle." Daryl called out as the two of you walked through the back gate towards his house. Merle was having a beer on the back stairs of the house as the two of you walked towards him, your crossbows slung over your shoulders as Daryl carried the three rabbits you had hunted for tea._

_Daryl's old man had been MIA for the past few days and your mother and Frank had been spending most their time at the local bar which meant you had no food in the house, meaning you guys either had to hunt for food or you were gonna have to live off bread for the next week._

_"Got some rabbit." Daryl stated holding up the rope around his shoulder as Merle stood up from the steps with a grin._

_"You guys were out there for a few hours and not a lot to show for it. Were ya getting a little snuggly out in the woods? Ya know, gettin' a little wild together?" Merle questioned taking a sip of his beer as you rolled your eyes. You knew Merle was only messing around and trying to get a rise out of you._

_"I bet if you went out into those woods with a crossbow you wouldn't hit a thing and w_ _e would all go hungry." You stated watching as Daryl walked over to the old barbecue by the back door and began setting it up ready to cook the rabbit._

_"I wouldn't be caught dead with a stupid crossbow, that's what guns are for. Give me a Winchester .22 rifle and I would bring back a feast for y'all." Merle replied leaning against the railing of the back porch as you nodded._

_"Right, whatever helps you sleep at night, Merle." You said as you leant your crossbow against the steps besides Daryl's before you walked over to him by the barbecue. "Need any help?"_

_"We're out of oil, if we try cookin' up the rabbit it's just gonna stick to the heat plate and get burnt." Daryl explained pointing at the empty oil bottle on the small bench next to the barbecue._

_"We could use butter instead of oil?" You suggested, but Daryl shook his head._

_"Our fridge is empty. We got none." He replied and you sighed, Frank didn't have any in his fridge either._

_"How 'bout you guys go down the street and grab some, the 7-Eleven is still open in town. Your truck is out of fuel, take my bike. I'll skin these rabbits while you guys are gone." Merle said catching you by surprise before you realised he was probably trying to make up for last weekend. You had to literally drag his ass home from the bar to stop him from getting into another bar fight otherwise he would have gotten the cops called on him._

_"I still got the 10 bucks I found on the way home from school. Let's go." You said grabbing Daryl's hand as he handed Merle the rope of rabbits before following you towards the garage._

_"Have ya ever rode a motorcycle before?" Daryl asked in amusement as he watched you climb onto the back of Merle's old Triumph with an excited grin._

_"Nope." You simply replied causing Daryl to chuckle as he grabbed his helmet from the work bench and placed it on your head before climbing onto the bike himself. "Wait, this is yours. You should wear it."_

_"Nah. I'll be fine." Daryl responded as he started the engine before turning back to you to make sure you were seated properly. "Hold onto my waist. I don't want ya fallin' off and getting hurt."_

_You couldn't help but smile after hearing that as you wrapped your arms around his stomach before he put in the bike into gear and took off out the garage and down the road. The sun had just disappeared for the day and the stars were just beginning to make their appearance in the night sky._

_"Ya good?" Daryl shouted over the rumble of the bike as he glanced over his shoulder towards you._

_"This is amazing!" You yelled causing Daryl to smile slightly before he focused back on the road as you rested your head against his back as you stared up at the stars in the sky. One day the two of you will be able to just ride out of this town and never have to worry about Frank or his old man again. God, you couldn't wait for that day to come._

After about half an hour Daryl slowly bought the bike to a stop, snapping you out of your thoughts as you glanced over your shoulder to find the other cars all stopping too and everyone climbed out. You watched as the two kids, Carl and Beth took watch on both ends of the roads as the others all started to spread a map out over a cars bonnet and you were starting to get the feeling that this group had done this a lot. They seemed to work well together, but you figured they had been with each other for a long time.

"Ya comin'?" Daryl's voice suddenly asked and you looked away from the group to find Daryl standing beside you and you nodded, climbing off the bike before the two of you joined the others by the map.

"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off. We'll never make it south." Maggie stated motioning towards the map and you took a mental note as to where the herds she was talking about were.

"What would ya say? That was about 150 head?" Daryl questioned as he leant against the side of the bonnet next to you.

"That was last week. It could be twice that by now." Glenn answered as you glanced over your shoulder making sure Beth and Carl were okay before you turned back to the others.

"This river could have delayed them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through here." Hershel suddenly stated, but T-Dog shook his head.

"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." He stated pointing to the map.

"So we're blocked." You stated and the others all nodded their heads. You never had a map or even tried to figure out which way to go next. You just kept moving, not caring where you ended up and if you came across a herd then you would just pick a new direction and start walking.

"Only thing to do is double back at 27 and swing towards Greenville. At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through there yet. We can't keep going house to house. We need to find someplace to hole up for a few weeks." Rick stated glancing over at one of the cars and you followed his sight to spot Lori sitting in the vehicle. You kinda figured out that the two of them were together, but they clearly had a lot of shit to work through because they barely spoke to each other.

"Alright. Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out? Won't take long. We got to fill up on water. We can boil it later." T-Dog suddenly said and Rick nodded.

"Knock yourself out." Rick stated before Hershel walked over to Rick as Daryl grabbed your hand motioning for you to follow him back to the motorcycle to give them some privacy.

"Things have been a bit tense in the group for a few months. We've spent the winter just goin' from house to house and Rick is getting stressed with Lori. It don't look like it, but this group is good. I'll follow ya anywhere, but this group is a good one." Daryl suddenly said, his hand still holding yours and you smiled.

"I want to stay with this group, with you. We're stronger in numbers and these guys seem as close as family. I want to be apart of that." You admitted causing Daryl to pull you into a hug.

"Ya are apart of it. Just give the others a while to get to know ya and they will love ya." Daryl replied, kissing your forehead before he grabbed his crossbow off the motorcycle and you followed his lead, taking your crossbow off your shoulder.

"Hey, while the others wash their panties, let's go hunt." Daryl called out to Rick who nodded walking over to the two of you and before long the three of you were walking through the woods.

After a few minutes of walking in silence you came across an old railway track and began following it, hoping it would lead to somewhere the group could use.

"So you guys were together before all of this?" Rick asked, trying to make a conversation as you all walked side by side along the tracks.

"Yeah, kinda." You replied bumping into Daryl playfully as you continued walking, but you could see the questioning look Rick was giving you. "We were best friends, grew up next door to each other and everything, but by the time I think we both realised our feelings for each other, it was too late." You admitted looking down at the ground not wanting to meet Daryl or Ricks gaze. You regretted not going with Daryl and Merle that day and you hated yourself for thinking you would have been able to get your mother away Frank because deep down you knew that you wouldn't be able to. You should have just left with the Dixon brothers.

"Is it still to late?" Rick asked, looking at you before his eyes went over to Daryl.

"Nah it ain't. I left her once and I won't make that mistake again." Daryl replied as he looked down at you and you couldn't help but smile as you grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. You may hate yourself forever for not leaving with Daryl and Merle when you had the chance, but you had found Daryl again and that was all that mattered.

"That's a shame." Daryl suddenly muttered as you looked up noticing Rick and Daryl both staring at something to your right and you followed their gaze before your eyes landed on a large prison. The fences around the prison looked to be in perfect condition, but inside the prison yard you could see dozens of walkers roaming around through the field. Daryl was right, it was a shame, that place would have been awesome, you thought to yourself as you glanced over at Rick and instantly you knew what he was thinking. We can't take the prison can we? There's too many walkers.

-

An hour later you found yourselves back to back with Lori in the middle as you waited for Rick to finish cutting a gap in the prison fence. Walkers were slowly making their way towards you from the woods as you took a step forward stabbing a walker that got too close before you quickly shifting back into the circle to protect Lori.

"Got it. Hurry!" Rick suddenly shouted and everyone began squeezing through the gap in the fence. You let the others go through first as you kept watch, your crossbow up as you scanned the woods behind you.

"Y/N, lets go." Daryl suddenly said and you turned around noticing it was just Rick and Daryl outside the fence and you nodded, slinging your bow over your shoulder as you ducked through the fence. You quickly grabbed the corner of the wire, helping Glenn hold the gap open as Rick and Daryl squeezed through before Glenn began tying the wire fence back together with rope.

You looked around taking in your surroundings, you guys were safe between the two fences but you knew Rick wanted to take the prison field and if you were being honest you agreed with him. It would be good to have all that space and not have to worry about any walkers and once the group was ready you could try take over the rest of the prison. It was a good plan and that way Lori would have somewhere safe to have her baby.

Once Glenn finished fixing the fence you all took off jogging down the path, you and Daryl running in front until you reached the end gate.

"It's perfect. If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight." Rick stated and you looked over at the gate he was talking about across the other side of the field. It was the only gate connecting the field to the prison courtyard and he was right, if you could get that gate shut it would stop any other walkers getting in.

"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel questioned glancing around the group.

"I'll do it. I'm the fastest." Glenn suddenly said but you could see the sudden panic on Maggie's face as she shook her head.

"No. It's a suicide run." Maggie responded as you began to take your backpack off your back, dropping it on the ground.

"I'll do it. You guys cover me." You stated as you slung your crossbow over your shoulder glancing over at Rick who gave you a questioning look, but you held his gaze to show him that you were being serious.

"No-" Daryl began to protest but before you could tell him that you would be fine, Rick began talking.

"I'll go with her, if that gate is jammed or something happens, it'll be safer with two people." Rick stated looking over at Daryl who nodded reluctantly. "Glenn, Maggie and Beth draw as many as you can over there. Pop 'em through the fence. Daryl, go back to the other tower. Carol, you've become a pretty good shot. Take your time. We don't have a lot of ammo to waste. Hershel, you and Carl take this tower." Rick instructed and everyone nodded, rushing off to do their part as Daryl grabbed your arm.

"Be careful." He muttered and you gave him a reassuring smile.

"I always am, Dixon." You replied and he stared at you for a few seconds before he took off with Carol towards the guard tower as you turned around to Rick as Glenn handed him a chain to hold the gate shut.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Rick questioned and you nodded as the two of you walked towards the gate.

"Yeah, it'll be fun." You replied sarcastically before nodding to Lori as she opened the gate for the two of you. You and Rick quickly ducked behind the upturned bus as you pulled your handgun out, knowing you wouldn't have time to keep reloading your crossbow after each shot.

You gave Rick a soft nod before the two of you began running towards the gate, firing a few bullets into the walkers that got a little too close for comfort. You ran behind Rick watching as he took out the walkers in front while you focused on the ones behind. You quickly glanced back at Rick to find a walker right besides him, but just as you raised your gun, a bolt pierced through its head and it dropped to the ground. 

Rick nodded in Daryl's direction up in the guard tower before he continued on running and you followed, ducking down to grab Daryl's bolt out the walkers head before you ran after Rick.

"Y/N!" You heard Rick yell causing you to quickly turn around in his direction to find him trying to pull the gate across as a walker tried to get through. You quickly sprinted the last few steps towards him before you kicked the walker back allowing Rick to fully close the gate and latch it shut.

"In here!" You yelled firing off a few more bullets at the walkers behind you before you opened the door to another guard tower. Rick quickly ran in as you followed and closed the door behind you as the two of you ran up the stairs until you reached the top of the tower and walked out onto the platform.

"Light it up!" You heard Daryl shout from the other guard tower before everyone began firing at the walkers inside the field. One by one, they began dropping like flies.

You glanced over at Rick as he leant on the railing firing off a shot with his bolt-action sniper before reloading it, you heard him laugh slightly with a grin and you couldn't help but smile either. The group really needed the safety of these fences and you did as well.

You quickly put your handgun back in your thigh holster as you pulled your crossbow up and began shooting at the walkers, not wanting to waste your bullets. In a matter of seconds the last walker dropped to the ground and you sighed with relief.

"I can't believe that worked." You commented causing Rick to chuckle as the two of you made your way back down the stairs.

"Whoooooo!" You heard T-Dog shout as you and Rick walked out the guard tower spotting the others all walking into the field taking in the large empty space inside the fences. You noticed Daryl walking towards you and you jogged over to him, unable to stop smiling as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and you could tell he was smiling too. This prison might actually work. 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

"Ya shouldn't have ran for the gate, it was too dangerous." Daryl muttered as you handed him his crossbow bolt that you had grabbed earlier.

"Everything is dangerous these days and I'm not that small weak girl who lived next door, not anymore." You replied looking up at him and he shook his head.

"Ya never were weak. Ya were always sticking up for Merle and I when we were growin' up. God, ya even tried to fight against my old man when he started beatin' me." Daryl replied kissing the top of your head, his thumb gently brushing over the rough scar on the corner of your forehead as you remembered that day.

_"This is pointless, I'm never gonna need to know this shit in real life." Daryl grumbled as he closed his mathematics book for the fifth time causing you to roll your eyes._

_"Well you need to know it for the test." You responded causing him to groan as you shifted positions on his bed where the two of you were sitting, pencils and text books spread all over the mattress._

_"Did ya hear that? It sounded like a door opening, my dad might be home." Daryl suddenly said and you chuckled._

_"Nice try Dixon, you aren't getting out of this homework." You responded as you opened his math book back up before reaching for the calculator to attempt the equation when suddenly his bedroom door got slammed opened._

_"Your fucking good for nothing brother got himself kicked out the army and now he's back in juvie!" Mr Dixon shouted causing you to jump as you turned around spotting him in the doorway, a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand as he glared at Daryl. Shit, this isn't good._

_"Y/N get out of here." Daryl whispered, but clearly his father heard it and that only made him angrier._

_"She doesn't go anywhere until I say so! You're the girl from next door aren't ya?" Mr Dixon questioned, but you didn't answer. You had no idea what to say, you didn't want make him any angrier and piss him off._

_"This has nothin' to do with her." Daryl suddenly stated, speaking up against his father but you saw the way Mr Dixon's jaw tightened as he began undoing his belt._

_"No. You're right. It's between me and Merle, but since he ain't here you're gonna take his place." Mr Dixon stated as he pulled his belt out from his jeans before walking over to the two of you. Before you even realised what was happening he grabbed you by your hair and threw you into the wooden cupboard across the room, head first. You weren't sure if you had passed out for a few minutes or not, but you could feel blood trickling down the side of your thumping head and when you looked over towards Daryl you could see him pinned to the bed, his shirt ripped off as his father beat him with his belt._

_You could see Daryl's back starting to bleed from the repetitive hits before you forced yourself onto your feet as you tried to pull his father off him._

_"Leave him alone!" You shouted, kneeing Mr Dixon in the back of his thigh causing him to groan in pain before he turned around, his eyes full of fury, but you didn't care. He had hurt Daryl and for that he was going to pay._

_He tried to take a swing at you, but he was clearly drunk and you were able to dodge his fist with ease as you landed a solid punch to his nose in response causing it to bleed._

_"You little bitch!" He snarled grabbing you by your hair and throwing you onto the bed besides Daryl who watched you with frightened eyes, but he couldn't do anything. His back was sliced open in various places from the belt and even if it wasn't, he wouldn't be able to do anything._

_"No!" Daryl yelled, which only copped him another whip from the belt and suddenly you felt your shirt being ripped and before you knew it the belt came cracking down against your back. You tried holding back you screams, not wanting Daryl to know how much it hurt as you closed your eyes, just waiting for it to stop. You knew Daryl's father beat him like how Frank would beat you behind closed doors, but he would only ever use his fists to hurt you. Whereas, Daryl's father took it to a whole new level and you were starting to realise just how dangerous this man was._

_After a few minutes, you could feel blood trickling down your back and another minute later the beatings stopped as you heard Daryl's bedroom door slam shut. Your eyes quickly opened as you sat yourself up, your back stinging from the fresh cuts but you knew Daryl copped most of the mans anger. You turned around to find Daryl slowly sitting himself up on the bed, his back a mixture of blood and bruises._

_"Oh my God, Daryl. Stop moving, you are gonna make it worse." You quickly said placing your hand on his shoulder, being careful not to touch any of the cuts as you felt tears rising in your eyes seeing him like this. "You need stitches." You stated wiping your eyes so he couldn't see your tears before you climbed off his bed, grabbing the small first aid kit that he kept under his bed. It wasn't the first time one of you had gotten hurt, whether it was from his father, Frank or an accident while out hunting._

_"He hurt ya. I should've done something." Daryl whispered as you sat back down on the bed catching his gaze and you could see the guilt and sorrow in his eyes._

_"It wasn't your fault. Daryl, it wasn't your fault. I'm fine. Just a couple of scratches on my back that don't even need stitches." You replied softly with a sad smile, but he shook his head._

_"The cut on your forehead is still bleedin' that needs stitches." He stated and you rolled your eyes as you grabbed the needle and thread out the kit._

_"Then let me stitch you up and you can help me with mine after." You responded and he nodded reluctantly as he laid back down on his stomach allowing you to reach his back. "This is gonna sting like a bitch, but I gotta use these alcohol wipes to clean it."_

_You put the needle down grabbing a wipe from the first aid kit before you began wiping the blood and cleaning the cuts. Daryl laid there, flinching slightly as you wiped each cut but to his credit he remained silent. Until you got the needle and thread out and began stitching the first cut causing him to curse under his breath from the sudden pain._

_"Don't be a baby, I'm nearly finished." You responded causing him to chuckle slightly and you smiled happily at yourself for getting Daryl to laugh after what just happened. A few minutes later you finished stitching the last cut along his back before you put the needle and thread back down._

_"It's not the neatest, but it'll do the job." You said as Daryl sat back up and looked over at you properly for the first time. He could see the unshed tears in your eyes and how you were fiddling with the loose thread on your jeans, which he knew you did when you were either nervous or scared._

_"Hey." He said softly, placing his thumb under your chin as he lifted your head gently, so you had no choice but to meet his eyes. "We're okay. He won't come back, he'd be passed out in his room by now." He said trying reassure you and you nodded before reaching for your shirt that had been thrown to the end of the bed, but it was destroyed. "Let me clean your back and then ya can put one of my shirts on, ya must be freezin'." Daryl suddenly said, only just clicking to the fact that you were wearing nothing other than your jeans and a bra._

_After a few minutes Daryl finished cleaning your back with another alcohol wipe as you pulled one of his long sleeves flannels on over your head. It was a bit big for you, but you didn't care, just grateful he let you take one of his shirts, knowing how Frank would react if you walked into his house without your shirt._

_"Sit down, let me stitch that cut." Daryl instructed, motioning towards the cut on your forehead as he gently cleaned the blood off the side of your face and you felt your cheeks blush slightly at how close the two of you were sitting._

_"Ow." You muttered as you felt him beginning to stitch the cut._

_"Don't be a baby, I'm nearly finished." Daryl mocked in the same tone you used on him a few minutes earlier._

_"Shut up." You laughed, glancing up at Daryl as he focused on your cut, but you could see the corners of his mouth tugged up in a slight smile and you couldn't help but smile too._

"I kinda miss the days where the only things we had to worry about was your father and Frank." You admitted as the two of you walked around the dead corpses of the walkers retrieving your crossbow bolts from their heads.

"Me too." Daryl replied as he handed you your last bolt before you guys made your way back to the others who were all standing in the middle of the field taking in the wide-open space.

"You know what would make this even better? If we had food." You heard Carl say and everyone nodded in agreement. Food. They don't have food? Why didn't they say anything?

"Where's my bag?" You suddenly questioned as T-Dog held up your backpack, walking over to you.

"This thing is damn heavy." He stated, handing it back to you and you laughed with a nod before opening it.

"That's because it's stacked full of food. There's enough cans in here for everyone, take your pick." You stated as you began placing the various cans on the ground while the group stared at you in pure shock and happiness as they began grabbing a can each.

"Where did you find all this?" Lori suddenly questioned as Carl handed her a tin of peaches.

"I found a house that hadn't been scavenged, it was loaded with a lot of stuff. Even more food in the cupboards, but then I heard you guys shooting walkers down the street so I just grabbed what I could." You responded with a shrug as you grabbed the last two remaining cans and handed one to Daryl.

"First you save our lives and now you give us food. Seriously, where have you been for the past eight months?" Carol questioned causing everyone to laugh as you all started eating the food. You glanced around at the group who were all smiling and for the first time since you met them they all looked happy and almost relaxed.

-

That night you and Daryl were on watch, you were both standing on the old bus that was tipped on it's side by the front gate. It provided a good vantage point and allowed you to keep an eye on the vehicles too. Rick was out walking along the fence line, making sure the perimeter was secure while the others had managed to start a fire and were all sitting around it, cooking some of the left over beans and rabbits that you and Daryl had hunted earlier.

"I came back for ya." Daryl suddenly said, breaking the silence causing you to stop walking along the bus as you turned to face him. "Merle and I came back for ya. The town was abandoned, walkers roamin' the streets and when we checked ya house, there was blood everywhere. Found Frank dead in ya kitchen and when we couldn't find ya... I thought ya were dead, I thought ya were gone. Merle had to drag me out your house when the walkers on the street started comin' in and after that we just drove." Daryl explained, his voice breaking at the end and your heart dropped.

"I'm so sorry, I should have went with you when you guys left, I should have just packed up and went with you. My mother was never gonna leave Frank, I should have known that because the minute he died my mother just gave up. For some screwed up reason she still loved him after everything he did to her and to me. So she grabbed his gun, told me that there was no point in living in this world and she killed herself." You explained shaking your head at the horrible memory as you looked out past the fences towards the woods, not wanting to look at Daryl. "I buried her in the backyard and then loaded up Franks crappy red truck and just left. I came across a group of people not long after that and stuck with them. I was with them for nearly a year before a herd destroyed our camp, I was the only one who managed to get out."

You stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to force the tears in your eyes back down, not wanting to cry, but as soon as you felt Daryl pull into a hug you couldn't help it as a few tears trickled down your cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N." Daryl whispered as you rested your head against his chest, his hand cupping the back of your head, the other around your waist holding you tightly. You stayed like that for a few minutes before you pulled away slightly, looking up at him.

"What happened to Merle? Is he..." You trained off not wanting to finish that sentence, he couldn't be dead, not Merle. The only thing that could kill that guy was himself. He can't be dead.

"I don't know." Daryl answered causing you to frown. That was no the answer you were expecting. "It's a long story."

"I've got all night." You replied with a soft smile and Daryl nodded. You waited patiently as Daryl tried to find the right words he was looking for.

"Merle and I came across this group." Daryl began to say, glancing at the others sitting by the fire in the middle of the field before he turned back to face you. "They let us join their group, but Merle was planning on just taking all their shit and leavin' but they had kids and families, I couldn't. So we stayed. I went out huntin' for a few days but when I got back Merle was gone and there was this new guy in camp. He told me that he handcuffed my brother to a rooftop in Atlanta and left him there. Said he had no choice, that Merle was gonna get them all killed. The next day the new guy and a few others took me to that same building, but when we reached the roof he was gone. That son of a bitch cut his own hand off and escaped. I haven't seen him since."

"I think he's alive." You suddenly declared as you fixed the strap of your crossbow before looking up at Daryl who was looking at you with a questioning look. "He's too damn stubborn to die like that, he would want to go down fighting. Not from being stuck on a roof or from blood loss. He's out there somewhere. Probably found a group of people and is bossing them around as we speak." You said with a smile causing Daryl to chuckle.

"That sounds like Merle." He replied with a nod and you frowned just realising something.

"What happened to the new guy? I mean, I highly doubt you just let this whole thing slide." You suddenly said and that only made Daryl chuckle even more. Wait how is this funny?

"I tried to kill him, the others in camp stopped me. I hated him for ages too, but after a while I realised that the man wasn't so bad, and I figured Merle must have been doing somethin' stupid to cause it. Rick and I are friends now, he's like family." Daryl explained with a shrug and you raised your eyebrows in shock. Did he just say Rick? 

"Wait, it was Rick? Holy shit! I did not see that coming." You responded staring at him in shock as he rolled his eyes. You kind of wanted to hate Rick for handcuffing Merle to a roof, but you knew first hand how bad Merle could get when he was riled up, you and Daryl have had to pull him away from too many fights when you were growing up. Plus, Daryl didn't seem to blame Rick or hold any grudges against the man so you didn't either.

A few minutes later Carol walked over to the two of you, placing two bowls of food on the bus as Daryl helped her climb up.

"It's not much, but if I don't bring you something, you won't eat at all." Carol said handing Daryl a bowl of food before giving you the other and you smiled at her before you started eating.

"I guess Little Shane over there has got quite the appetite." Daryl stated between mouthfuls of food and you looked over at Lori in confusion. Isn't she Rick's husband? Who's Shane?

"Don't be mean. Rick's gotten us a lot further than I ever thought he would, I'll give him that. Shane could never have done that." Carol replied as you slowly tried to figure out what they were talking about. Maybe this Shane guy was with Lori for a bit... that would make sense as to why Rick and Lori have some serious issues.

The three of you stood on the truck for a few more minutes, while you and Daryl finished eating. You noticed the way Carol kept looking at Daryl and you couldn't help but feel slightly jealous, did she like him? She does know you and Daryl are together right?

"We better get back." Carol suddenly said once you and Daryl finished and you nodded.

"We'll be there in a few minutes." You quickly answered, ignoring the slight confusion on Daryl's face at your reply before Carol climbed off the bus and began walking back to the group. You watched her for a few seconds until you were sure she was out of ear shot before you turned back to Daryl.

"Everythin' alright?" Daryl asked, his voice coming out slightly unsure as he watched you carefully.

"Did you and Carol... Did you guys ever... Where you ever together?" You asked, unable to find the right words, but Daryl clearly realised what you were referring to and quickly shook his head.

"Nah. God no. We're just close friends. I never got together with anyone, ya were the only girl I ever wanted." Daryl replied and you felt yourself slowly relax.

"What about when you thought I was dead?" You asked, but Daryl shook his head as a smile slowly creeped onto his face.

"Wait, were ya gettin' jealous?" He questioned and you felt your cheeks blush slightly as you sighed rubbing your face with your hands.

"Maybe... It's just I'm new to this whole relationship thing, I honestly don't know what I'm doing." You admitted glancing over at Daryl before down at the now empty bowl in your hand.

"We'll just take this slow, because I don't know what I'm doing either, but ya don't have to worry about Carol or anyone else. I'm yours and that ain't ever changin'." Daryl said grabbing your hand as you gave him a quick kiss before the two of you made your way back to the group.

Beth and Maggie were singing softly as the two of you reached the group and you noticed Rick had re-joined the group as well. You stood back as you watched them sing, your hand squeezing Daryl's gently as you leant against him, your head resting against his shoulder.

"Beautiful." Hershel stated as they finished the song and you smiled. It had been a long time since you last heard singing.

"Better all turn in. I'll take watch over there. We got a big day tomorrow." Rick informed and you looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Carl questioned.

"Look, I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win. But we've got to push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early. It could mean the supplies may be intact. They'd have an infirmary, a commissary." Rick explained, looking around at each of you.

"An armoury?" Daryl questioned and Rick nodded.

"That would be outside the prison itself, but not too far away. Warden's officers would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine. This place would be a gold mine." Rick finished as you glanced over at the prison, just able to make out the prison walls from the moonlight.

"We're dangerously low on ammo. We'd run out before we make a dent." Hershel suddenly said.

"That's why we have to go in there hand to hand. After all we've been through, we can handle it. We have Y/N now too, we can handle it, I know it." Rick said glancing up at you and you nodded to show him that you were in on the plan.

"These assholes don't stand a chance." Rick added, glancing down at his son who grinned in response before he stood up and started heading over towards the bus to stand watch as Lori stood up slowly and began following him. Well that conversation is not gonna end well, you thought to yourself before everyone began getting their stuff ready for the night.

You and Daryl laid down on the other side of the campfire, using your bags as pillows and his poncho for a blanket as Daryl rested one of his hands over your waist pulling you closer to into his chest. For the first time in years you honestly felt safe as you laid in Daryl's arms, a small smile on your face as you fell asleep. 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

The next morning you woke up as the sun was beginning to rise. You noticed a few others were awake sitting around the smoky ashes of what used to be the camp fire. Daryl was still asleep behind you, so you didn't move, not wanting to wake him as you gave Hershel and Glenn a smile once they realised you were awake.

Another ten or so minutes passed before everyone else began to wake up and an hour later you, Daryl, Rick, Glenn, Maggie and T-Dog were all standing by the gate that separated the field from the prison courtyard preparing to take down all the walkers inside.

"Ready?" Hershel asked and you all nodded as Rick pulled the gate open and you all rushed in, back to back as Hershel shut the gate behind you.

"Daryl!" Rick called as a walker came up from the left and Daryl quickly stabbed his knife into its head before you all continued making your way further into the yard around the prison. Taking down the walkers as they stumbled towards you.

You stood between Daryl and T-Dog, gripping your hunting knife tightly as you stabbed the walker a few metres away before you moved back into the defence circle you guys had made.

"Don't break the formation!" Rick shouted causing you to glance at the group to work out who he was yelling at when you spotted T-Dog running towards some sort of police shield.

"We need it!" T-Dog yelled over his shoulder as he grabbed the shield and quickly got back to the rest of you as you continued to slowly make your way through the yard, taking down walker after walker.

You all made your way towards a door and Rick opened it making sure there were no walkers in there before he took a few steps passed the door before he quickly came back, pressing his back against the wall.

"Shit." He hissed, motioning for all of you to stay back hidden behind the wall, you couldn't see what he was looking at, but suddenly you spotted a few walkers walking around the corner, wearing police protective equipment and head gear that covered their whole face. Shit, they're gonna be hard to kill.

Daryl quickly pulled his crossbow up and fired off a bolt at one of their heads but it just bounced back off the protective mask, not even making a scratch. You glanced over at Daryl who had a slight panicked look on his face before you glanced at the others who were starting to take on the walkers in the uniform when you spotted another gate in the distance that needed to be shut before more walkers came into the yard. But before you could do anything a walker burst through the door right besides you, knocking you to the ground, giving you no time get back up before it fell down on top of you, knocking your knife out your hand.

"God damnit." You muttered through clenched teeth as you tried to pull one of your crossbow bolts out from your bow besides you. The walkers jaw snapping behind the protective mask and suddenly you were glad it had the mask on since it couldn't bite you, but that didn't stop its hands trying to claw your face as you tried to hold it back.

"Y/N!" Daryl shouted in the distance before Rick suddenly called for Daryl desperately and you knew Rick needed help.

"I got this. Help Rick!" You shouted back, not bothering to try look at Daryl as you glanced down at your crossbow next to you, finally getting the bolt free and you quickly stabbed it up through the walkers jaw, piercing its brain from the bottom as it dropped dead on top of you.

You pushed the walker off onto the ground besides you as you stood up just in time to see Daryl and Rick closing the other gate, cutting off more walkers from entering the area you had just cleared. You quickly grabbed your bow, slinging it back over your shoulder before you grabbed your knife and rushed off towards Glenn, Maggie and T-Dog who were trying to take down the other walkers in uniform.

"Stab them through the jaw, it's the only way to reach their brain!" You shouted grabbing the helmet of the walker in front of Maggie as she stabbed it through the jaw and it dropped dead in front of you.

"See that?" Maggie questioned with a smile on her face as she looked over at Glenn and T-Dog who quickly copied what you and Maggie just did and took out the last of the walkers.

"Well, it looks secure." Glenn stated as Rick and Daryl walked over to the four of you as you glanced around the area making sure it was safe.

"Ya good?" Daryl asked, reaching up to the side of your face checking to make sure you were okay as you nodded. "Nothin' will lead to that courtyard over there. And that's a civilian." Daryl stated, pointing to the walker on ground a few metres away and you frowned.

"So the interior could be over run by walkers from outside the prison." T-Dog said.

"Well, if theres walls down, then what are we gonna do? We cant rebuild this whole place." Glenn added and you nodded, there was no way you'd be able to fix broken down walls.

"We can't risk a blind spot. We have to push in." Rick responded as he walked over to wire door opening it as you all followed him up the stairs towards the building. You followed behind Daryl as he trailed behind Rick before you reached the door that lead into the building.

Daryl slid the door open as Rick opened another metal barred door before you all walked in. It was a fairly large room, a couple of metal tables in the middle and another barred door on the other side of the room, which lead to a bunch of cellblocks.

You tucked your knife away as you lifted your crossbow up and began sweeping the area, making sure there weren't any walkers lurking in the shadows. Daryl kept his eye on you as you wandered around the room, your crossbow raised and finger resting on the trigger. You knew Daryl was watching you, since the two of you found each other again he had barely let you out of his sight, but it didn't bother you. You never thought you'd see him again and now that he was alive and with you, you didn't want to be away from him, scared that you might lose him again.

"Y/N." Rick whispered catching your attention as you turned back around to find him holding up a set of prison keys and you nodded, following the others towards the door to the cell block as Rick unlocked it.

You and Daryl walked in first, your bows raised as the others followed in behind you. There were a couple walkers trapped in some of the cells upstairs which Rick and Daryl handled, but other than that there were only a few dead ones in other cells and rubbish littering the floor.

You glanced around the room taking in the area. If you cleaned this cellblock out it would make a perfect camp for the group. No walkers could get into the area you guys had cleared, it was safe and when everyone was ready you could slowly make your way further into the prison, but there was no rush.

"Time to get cleaning." You stated as you clapped your hands together before slinging your bow over your shoulder as you walked into the first cell and began dragging the walker.

"We'll go get the others and our gear." Maggie said as her and Glenn walked out the room, back through the way you guys came before Daryl, Rick and T-Dog all copied you and began dragging the walkers out the cells so you could take them outside.

"What do you think?" Rick questioned walking down the stairs that lead to the second row of cells as Lori, Carol, Beth, Carl, Maggie and Glenn walked into the cellblock with all your gear.

"Home, sweet, home." Glen muttered walking through the door.

"For the time being." Rick responded as you took the bags from Lori and Carol, placing them along the wall out the way so you guys could finish cleaning the area.

"Is it secure?" Lori asked taking in the room.

"The cellblock is." Rick answered glancing over at her before Hershel began talking.

"What about the rest of the prison?" The man asked looking over at Rick.

"In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria and infirmary." Rick stated walking over to the others as you climbed up the stairs, walking over to Daryl who just finished clearing the last of the cells.

"We'll sleep in the cells?" Beth asked and Rick nodded.

"I found keys on some guards. Daryl has a set too." Rick said glancing up at you and Daryl.

"I ain't sleepin' in no cage. We'll take the perch." Daryl suddenly said pointing towards the platform next to the top of the stairs and you smiled. You knew Daryl wouldn't want to sleep in a cell and you were glad he chose that spot, it was up high and gave you a view of the whole cellblock so you could see everything.

You watched as everyone began checking out the cells, Maggie and Glenn took the first cell, Beth taking the one next door and Hershel in the one next to her. Lori and Carol climbed up the stairs walking past you and Daryl as they made their way towards the other cells choosing one and walking in.

"Help me grab a mattress." You suddenly said grabbing Daryl's hand as you pulled him towards one of the spare cells as the two of you grabbed the cleanest mattress, dragging it from the cell as you dropped it on the perch, making sure there was room for people to still access the stairs easily.

You watched Daryl grab his poncho as you walked down the stairs, grabbing your backpack as you looked back at Daryl who flopped down on the mattress and you couldn't help but chuckle as you climbed back up the stairs.

Daryl laid on his back, one arm under his head for support while he watched you as you climbed the stairs throwing your backpack on top of the mattress so you could use it as a pillow before you sat down besides Daryl.

"Do you think Lori and the baby will be okay? I mean there's no doctor here, the chances of something going wrong is pretty high." You suddenly whispered, bringing your knees up to your chest as you wrapped your arms around them.

"We have Hershel, he's basically a doctor. Why are ya thinkin' like that?" Daryl asked looking up at you from his position on the mattress.

"There was a pregnant lady in my old group. We had a doctor as well so everything should've been okay, but there was a complication." You began to explain, staring at the prison cell on the other side of the room as you remembered that day. "The doctor said she needed to have a c-section. He explained what needed to be done and told me how to help, but the baby was stillborn and the mother lost too much blood, there was nothing either of us could do." You stated and suddenly Daryl was sitting up besides you, his hand pressed against the small of your back as you leant into him.

"We'll find the prisons infirmary tomorrow, it'll be one hell of an advantage for Lori and the baby." Daryl replied, kissing your forehead and you nodded. You were glad he didn't just tell you that everything would be alright, because in this day and age nobody could promise that. Daryl was always honest, it was one of his traits you noticed when you first met him and it's one of the reasons why you fell in love with the man.

The two of you eventually went to sleep, Daryl told you a bit about the group and what they've all been though. The quarry at Atlanta. The CDC. The farm. He told you about a little girl called Sophia, a man named Dale and a woman named Andrea. He explained why there was tension between Rick and Lori, confirming your suspicions from earlier. You were glad that Daryl had found this group, they were all like one big family and made each other happy and after what Daryl had to deal with growing up with his actual family, he deserved to be happy.

-

The next morning you and Daryl woke up pretty early, nobody else was awake yet other than Rick so the three of you decided to go find the armoury and you hoped like hell that there was a silencer in there somewhere so you could put it on your handgun. You noticed Carl had a silencer on his handgun and few others did as well, in this world it could be the difference between life and death.

"Not bad." T-Dog stated as the three of you came back into the cellblock, laying out all the weapons you had found on the bench. It had been an easy run, you only came across a few walkers the entire time and managed to fill three bags full of weapons.

"Flashbangs, CS Triple-Chasers. Not sure how they'd work on walkers, but we'll take it." Rick said fiddling with the new weapons as you stood besides Daryl who picked up one of the security officers helmets as walker slime dripped from the inside of it causing your face to twist in disgust.

"I ain't wearing this shit." Daryl muttered chucking the helmet back onto the bench as you grabbed one of the scoped rifles aiming up towards the wall as you made sure the scope wasn't cracked.

"We could boil them." T-Dog suggested as he grabbed one of the arm guards.

"Ain't enough firewood in the whole forest. No," Daryl replied shaking his head as he picked up the metal pipe swinging it like a baseball bat.

"Boil them all you want, I ain't wearing it." You stated placing the gun back down as you looked over at Rick who shrugged his shoulders before Carol came into the room.

"Hershel?" She called looking over at the group of you as her eyes landed on the older man.

"Everything alright?" Rick asked and she nodded.

"Nothing to worry about." Carol simply replied before she and Hershel left the room, but something was clearly up. You glanced over at Daryl who shrugged his shoulders before the four of you continued to check out the weapons.

An hour later you, Daryl, Rick, T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie and Hershel were getting ready to go clear more of the prison and find the cafeteria and infirmary.

"I can't believe you three are actually gonna wear that." You stated watching as T-Dog, Glenn and Maggie all started strapping on the protective uniform.

"Well I don't wanna get bit." T-Dog responded as Daryl handed you your crossbow once you tucked your gun into your thigh holster.

"You don't need that. I need you to stay put." Rick suddenly said, taking one of the helmets off Carl and you could see the sudden shock and anger wash over the kid.

"You're kidding?" Carl questioned, staring at his father in disbelief.

"We don't know whats in there. Something goes wrong, you could be the last man standing. I need you to handle things here." Rick replied and you smiled seeing the sudden change in Carl's expression as he nodded.

"Sure." Carl replied and with that the group of you began to head out. You handed Daryl the torch you had found a few days ago as you walked besides him, Rick in front and the others behind.

You had your crossbow raised, finger resting against the trigger as you followed Rick down the long dark hallways. After a few minutes you reached another cellblock and as the others shined their torches towards the cells the ground covered in dead corpses, but you noticed that some of the bodies had been half eaten, which meant walkers were clearly near by or at least used to be.

Glenn quickly sprayed an arrow on one of the walls to indicate which direction you guys had came from so you wouldn't get lost in the large prison. Once you deemed the cellblock to clear of any walkers, you all made your way through another hallway until you came across a 'T' section and decided to go left.

You only walked a few more metres when Rick slowly walked around a corner, but as soon as he spotted all the walkers around the bend he quickly ushered you all backwards.

"Go back! Move! Walkers!" Rick shouted in a whisper, but it was too late, the walkers had heard you and without a second thought you all turned around and began running back down the hallway.

"Come on, this way!" Daryl shouted as he began leading the group of you in the other direction, you stuck at the back of the group stabbing the walkers that got too close as they chased you down the hallway. Suddenly more walkers came out from another hallway blocking you, Maggie and Glenn from the others.

"Shit!" You hissed quickly taking a step backwards, you were trapped, walkers in front and behind you.

"In here!" Glenn shouted opening a door to your left and you quickly followed the two inside, shutting the door behind yourself as you sat and waited until you couldn't hear the walkers outside the door anymore.

"I think it's all clear." You whispered looking over at the couple before you slowly opened the door and sighed with relief when all the walkers were gone, but so were the others.

"Daryl?" You whispered glancing down either end of the hallway.

"Rick?" Glenn whispered as the three of you slowly made your way down the hallway in the direction that the group was heading before you got slit up when suddenly the sound of Hershel's screams filled air followed by a gunshot.

You sprinted in the direction of the sound, Glenn and Maggie right behind you as you rounded the corner to find Hershel on the ground and you didn't miss the bite on his lower leg while Rick, Daryl and T-Dog leaning over him.

"No! Daddy!" Maggie cried as Glenn rushed down to help them grab Hershel when suddenly walkers began to appear down the end of the hallway. You quickly took a few steps forward putting yourself between the group and walkers as you started firing and reloading your crossbow.

"Daryl!" You heard Rick shout and suddenly Daryl was beside you, shooting at the walkers.

"We're blocked!" Someone shouted from behind you.

"We have to go back. Go! Go!" Ricks voice ordered and suddenly Daryl was grabbing you by your tank top and pulling you down the hallway towards the others as they opened a set of double doors. Everyone rushed into the room, dropping Hershel in the middle of the room, but that was the last you saw before you turned back to the doors as walkers pushed against it. You quickly pushed your back against the two doors, helping Daryl and T-Dog keep them shut. If these walkers got in, you were all as good as dead.

"Have you got it? Have you got it?" Rick frantically questioned looking over at the three of you.

"Yes. You have to cut his leg off, it's the only way to save him!" You shouted, remembering the man in your old group whose hand was cut off to save his life, but you saw the slight hesitation on Ricks face. "Just do it!" You yelled before you spotted a metal rod lying on the floor a few metres away. Daryl caught your eye and spotted what you were looking at and nodded as you quickly picked up the rod and slid it through the door handles, holding the doors perfectly shut.

T-Dog stayed by the doors, just in case they somehow broke through as you and Daryl rushed over to Hershel just as Rick finished cutting his leg off, but that wasn't what you were focused on. You were more focused on the group of people standing behind metal bars in a small supply room on the other side of the cafeteria. You quickly stood up raising your crossbow at the men as you glanced down at Daryl who looked up trying to figure out what you were doing when his eyes landed on the men.

"Duck." Daryl muttered, looking at Rick who quickly did as he said before Daryl raised his crossbow, standing up and making his way over to you as he shone the torch towards the men and you realised they were prisoners by the uniform they were wearing.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl questioned, taking a few steps towards the prisoners behind the metal bars.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the prisoners shot back as you followed Daryl, keeping your sights directly on them.

"He's bleeding out. We gotta go back. Come around here, put pressure on the knee, hard!" Rick instructed from behind as you and Daryl focused on the prisoners.

"Why don't ya come on out of there?" Daryl questioned glaring at the prisoners as they walked over to the door and made their way out.

"Slow and steady boys." You ordered, eyeing the men carefully, not knowing how dangerous they were.

"What happened to him?" The man with long black hair questioned, looking over at Hershel behind you guys.

"He got bit." Daryl responded and the men gave him a confused look.

"Bit?" One of the men asked as the guy with long hair began pulling out a pistol.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy now. Nobody has to get hurt." Daryl quickly responded as T-Dog took a few steps over to you, his handgun now raised too. You could hear Rick giving off orders behind you, trying to stop Hershel from bleeding out when suddenly Glenn came rushing through the middle of all of you. You quickly pointed your crossbow up, so Glenn wasn't in your firing line before bringing it back down and pointing it at the prisoners once he was clear.

"You have medical supplies?" Glenn questioned, walking into the supply room where the prisoners came out from, not even caring that everyone had their weapons raised.

"Who the hell are you people, anyway?" The same guy questioned, his eyes flying between you and Daryl.

"Don't look like no rescue team." The blonde haired man stated. Rescue team? What the hell is this guy on about? The police and army got over run like a year ago.

"If a rescue team is what you're waiting for don't." Rick shouted from behind you as Glenn rushed out the supply room, wheeling a portable bench across the ground towards Hershel. You wanted to help Hershel, to do something to help him, but you didn't want to leave Daryl alone with the prisoners. Hell they are prisoners for a reason, who knows what these guys did to end up in here.

"T, the door." Rick shouted as T-Dog quickly rushed over to the door, removing the metal rob.

"Are you crazy? Don't open that!" One of the prisoners shouted, but you weren't taking your eyes of the man with long black hair. There was something about him that made you feel uneasy and it wasn't just because he had his gun aimed at Daryl.

"We got this!" You heard T-Dog respond as the familiar sound of a walkers body hitting the ground filled the air, but you couldn't hear any further groans of walkers which meant the hallway were clear.

"Daryl. Y/N. Let's go." Rick shouted, but you didn't move. Your bow still raised at the man who was aiming at Daryl. "Daryl! Y/N! Come on!" Rick yelled as you and Daryl began walking backwards, your bows still raised at the five prisoners.

"You better stay in here." You stated, staring at the man with the gun before the two of you walked out the room, shutting the door behind you as you ran after the others down the hallway.

"Stay close." Daryl whispered, glancing over at you and you nodded as the two of you reached the group, running in front of them to clear the path of any walkers you may come across.

"Daryl!" Rick suddenly shouted as you turned the corner to find two walkers in your path, but you and Daryl quickly fired your bows as they dropped to the ground. As you ran past you pulled your bolts out their skulls before you contined running.

"Come on!" Daryl shouted over his shoulder, glancing over at you to make sure you were still beside him.

"Shit." You hissed as you heard the prisoners voices echo through the prison. They were following you.

"Go. Go. Go." Rick shouted, making you all run faster until you finally reached the door that lead to the large room that you guys cleared out.

"He's losing too much blood. Open the door! It's Hershel! Carl!" Rick yelled and you watched as they pushed the table he was lying on towards the cellblock door as Carl opened it and locked it behind them, while you, Daryl and T-Dog turned back towards the door you just came in, waiting for the prisoners to walk in.

You glanced over at Daryl who dropped his set of keys onto one of the metal tables in the middle of the room before raising his crossbow towards the door. You took a few steps towards him, standing on the other side of the table as you reloaded your crossbow before focusing at the door. How the hell were you going to deal with these prisoners?

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

"I told you guys to stay put!" You shouted in a stern tone watching as the prisoners slowly walked into the room, the sights of your crossbow aiming at the long haired man knowing he still had a pistol. 

"Cellblock C. Cell 4, that's mine, gringo. Let me in." He responded motioning towards the door that lead to the cellblock that T-Dog had just finished locking the door after the others rushed Hershel inside.

"Today's your lucky day, fellas. You've been pardoned by the State of Georgia. You're free to go." Daryl said from beside you, but you didn't look at him as your eyes remained fixed on the prisoners.

"What you got going on in there?" The long haired man questioned who you were staring to think was the leader of the five prisoners.

"That ain't none of your concern." You replied causing the man turn his attention to you as he shook his head, pulling out his pistol.

"Don't tell me what's my concern." He responded angrily, aiming his gun towards you and you saw Daryl tense out the corner of you eye as he took a few steps forward, crossbow still raised.

"Chill man. Dude's leg is messed up. Besides, we're free now." One of the other prisoners said, trying to deesculate the situation. 

"A group of civilians breaking into a prison you got no business being in. Got me thinking there ain't no place for us to go." The leader stated lowering his gun.

"Why don't ya go find out?" You replied, trying to hold back your annoyance. Hershel is in there bleeding out and you were stuck here dealing with these fucking prisoners who had no idea what's going on in the real world. This is ridiculous. 

"We ain't leaving." The leader answered causing T-Dog to walk over to them, raising his gun.

"You aren't coming in either." He stated causing the leader to raise his gun again, now aiming at T-Dog. Shit.

"Hey, this is my house, my rules. I go where I damn well please!" The leader shouted taking a step towards T-Dog and you could see his finger hovering over the trigger of his gun. Nope, not happening.

"It ain't your house no more! Now, calm the fuck down." You shouted, taking a step forward as you gripped your crossbow tighter watching as the leader turned back to you.

"I will shot you. I don't care that you're a woman." The man stated, pointing his gun back at you which only made Daryl angry.

"Don't point that at her! There ain't nothin' for ya here. Why don't ya go back to your own sandbox?!" Daryl suddenly shouted before Ricks voice filled the air and you glanced over your shoulder to find him walking towards you all, his hands out slightly to show that he wasn't a threat.

"Hey, everyone relax. There's no need for this." He said calmly, noticing the mans gun was pointed at you causing him to take a few more steps forward until he was standing beside you.

"How many of you are in there?" The leader asked glancing towards the door, before looking back at Rick.

"Too many for you to handle." Rick stated.

"You guys rob a bank or something? Why don't you take him to a hospital?" The leader asked as you glanced over at Daryl and Rick, all sharing the same look.

"How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?" Rick asked looking back over at the prisoners.

"Going on like 10 months." The leader answered. 10 months, that would have been months after this whole thing started.

"A riot broke out. Never seen anything like it." The taller man added.

"Attica on speed, man. Ever heard about dudes going cannibal, dying, coming back to life? Crazy." Another man stated.

"One guard looked out for us, locked us up in the cafeteria. Told us sit tight, threw me this piece of shit, said he'd be back. That was 292 days ago. We were thinking that the army or national guard should be showing up any day now." The leader explained, his gun still hovering in your direction, but you knew he wasn't going to shoot.

"There is no army. No government, no hospital, no police. It's all gone." Rick informed and you could see them slowly process what he just said as they stared at you all in shock.

"For real?" The blonde guy questioned and Rick nodded.

"What about my kids?"

"My old lady?"

"Yo, you got a cell phone or something that we can call our families?" One of them questioned. Wow, they really had no idea what's been going on in the world.

"Ya just don't get it, do ya?" Daryl questioned as you glanced over at him.

"No phones, no computers. As far as we can see, at least half the population has been wiped out. Probably more. Come see for yourself." Rick said motioning towards the door by the stairs that lead outside. You stood back, lowering your crossbow once the leader lowered his gun, following the other prisoners towards the door as you, Daryl, Rick and T-Dog followed them outside into the courtyard you guys cleared yesterday.

"Damn, the sun feels good." One of them commented.

"They're all dead." Another stated, staring at all the dead bodies along the ground. The four of you stood back a bit, letting the prisoners take everything in as you glanced around the courtyard full of dead corpses.

"So what is this, like a disease?" One of them asked, poking one of the dead bodies with the end of his shovel.

"Yeah, and we're all infected." Rick replied.

"What do you mean infected? Like AIDS or something?" The blonde man asked.

"If I was to kill ya, shoot an arrow in your chest, you'd come back as one of these things. It's gonna happen to all of us." Daryl answered pointing towards the walkers banging on the fence in the distance. Nobody said anything for a few seconds before the leader walked towards Rick, obviously working out that he was the leader of your group.

"Where'd you come from?" He questioned, staring at Rick.

"Atlanta."

"Where are you headed?"

"For now, nowhere." Rick answered sternly, not backing down.

"I guess you can take that area down there near the water. Should be comfortable." The leader said motioning to wherever he was referring to. Did this guy really think you were going to give up the prison? 

"We're using that field for crops. We took out these walkers. This prison is ours." Rick said, but it was clear that the other man wasn't too happy about that as he took a step towards Rick causing you to tighten your grip on your crossbow, ready to raise it the second the man stepped out of line.

"Slow down, cowboy. This is our prison. We were here first." The leader argued and you couldn't help the laugh that left your lips as you took a few steps over to Rick. Daryl watching you carefully from the left, not knowing what you were planning.

"Locked in a broom closet?" You questioned, not bothering to hide the amusement in your voice as you reached Ricks side.

"We took it, set you free. It's ours. We split blood!" Rick shouted softly, but the man shook his head.

"We're moving back into our cellblock." He declared glaring between you and Rick.

"You'll have to get your own." You responded sternly, but again the man shook his head taking another step forward.

"I've still got personal artefacts in there. That's about as mine as it gets!" The leader suddenly shouted pulling his gun back out and aiming it at Rick as the other prisoners quickly rushed to their leaders side.

"Whoa, whoa. Relax fellas." You quickly said holding your hands out to try show that you didn't want to fight. "Take it easy, we'll work this out." You said calmly, glancing at each of the prisoners until you focused back on the leader with the gun.

"I ain't going back in that cafeteria for one more minute." The leader stated, lowering his gun as he glared at Rick.

"There are other cellblocks." The blonde prisoner said.

"Ya could leave. Try your luck out on the road." Daryl muttered behind you and you quickly glanced over at him noticing his crossbow was raised at the prisoners.

"If these four pussies can do all this, the least we can do is take out another cellblock. Atlanta here will spot us some real weapons. Won't you, boss?" The leader suddenly said, his voice now calm.

"How stocked is that cafeteria? It must have plenty of food. Five guys lasting almost a year?" Rick asked.

"It sure as hell don't look like anybody's been starving." Daryl stated, not lowering his crossbow.

"There's only a little left."

"We'll take half. In exchange, we'll help clear out a cellblock." Rick said before one of the other prisoners started talking.

"Didn't you hear him? There's only a little left."

"Bet you got more food than you got choices. You pay, we'll play." Rick responded and the leader nodded. "Well, lets be clear. If we see you out here anywhere near our people, if I so much as even catch a whiff of your scent, I will kill you." Rick stated, not breaking eye contact with the man.

"Deal." The leader agreed and within a few minutes you were all walking back inside the prison, to head to the cafeteria to get half the supplies.

"You guys got this?" You questioned looking over at Rick and Daryl as T-Dog closed the door behind you.

"Yeah, why? Where are you going?" Rick questioned in confusion as he glanced over at you, still keeping an eye on the prisoners as they started making their way through the large room towards the other door.

"I got medicine in my bag that Hershel could use. It might help." You quickly explained and Rick nodded as you walked over to Daryl.

"Be careful and take this. I don't trust the leader." You whispered, handing Daryl your Glock 19 knowing all he had was the crossbow and hunting knife.

"Me neither." Daryl whispered, tucking the gun into the back of his belt before he followed the others through the far door as you made your way towards the cellblock.

"Carl, let me in." You called spotting the boy leaning against the wall outside one of the cells before he jogged over to you, unlocking the door. "Don't worry the guys have the prisoners handled. How's Hershel?"

"They stopped the bleeding, but he still hasn't woken up." Carl answered and you nodded.

"He's one tough man, he'll wake up soon." You reassured, noticing the worry on the young boys face before you quickly climbed the stairs to yours and Daryl's bed. You opened your backpack trying to find the antibiotics and painkillers before you made your way back down the stairs over to the cell everyone was crowding around.

"Hey, I got some antibiotics, it should prevent him from getting an infection and I got some painkillers, they won't do much now but when he wakes up he'll be grateful." You said softly, walking into the cell. Lori and Carol were crouched down in front of Hershel who was lying on the bed. Maggie, Glenn and Beth were standing by the wall behind them, watching.

"Thank you, Y/N." Carol said with a soft smile as you handed her a couple of the tablets before you looked down at Hershel. You stayed with them for a while, not knowing what to do. You hated feeling helpless, but there was nothing you could do. 

"Foods here. Canned beef, canned corn, canned cans." T-Dogs voice shouted as you walked out the cell to find him and Rick walking in, arms full of food, but no Daryl.

"Where's Daryl?" You quickly questioned walking over to Rick who nodded over his shoulder towards the door he just came from.

"In that room with the prisoners. We're gonna get some weapons and help them clear out a cellblock." Rick answered and with that you made your way towards the door, not liking the thought of Daryl being alone with the five of them, especially with the leader.

Carl unlocked the door for you as you walked into the other room to find Daryl sitting on one of the tables, his crossbow sitting on his lap while the prisoners were all sitting at the other table, talking amongst themselves. Daryl glanced over his shoulder hearing the door open as his eyes landed on you and you gave him soft smile.

"Hershel?" Daryl asked as you took a seat next to him, resting your crossbow on your lap wanting to have it out ready in case something happened.

"They stopped the bleeding and he doesn't have a fever. But his pulse is weak and he hasn't woken up yet." You answered looking over at Daryl who nodded. You could tell he was worried about the older man, all of them shared a really close connection and you just hoped like hell Hershel would pull through.

A few minutes passed before Rick and T-Dog walked in with a bunch of crowbars and metal pipes and you sighed with relief that Rick wasn't giving them any serious weapons.

"Why do I need this, when I got this?" The leader questioned putting the crowbar down on the table as he pulled his gun back out. You tensed slightly gripping your bow tighter by your side as you eyed the leader carefully.

"Ya don't fire guns, not unless your back's up against a wall. Noise attracts 'em. It really riles them up." Daryl answered and you could feel his hand gently pressed against the small of your back to try get you to relax as you stared at the leader.

"We'll go in two by two. Daryl will run point with T. I'll bring up the rear with you. Y/N and the rest of you will be in the middle. Stay tight, hold formation no matter how close the walkers get anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down. Anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker, end up with an axe to the head." Rick explained, glancing around at each of the prisoners to make sure they all understood him. You looked over at Daryl who was already looking at you with an uncertain look on his face and you knew he wasn't liking the idea of you being away from him, but you gave him a reassuring nod.

"And that's where ya aim. These things only go down with a headshot." Daryl added, looking over at the prisoners.

"Ain't gotta tell us how to take out a man." The leader stated and none of you said anything for a few seconds as you stared at him. Well at least you knew what this guy was in prison for. We shouldn't be helping these people, they were in here for a reason and now we know one of them is murder.

"They ain't men. They're something else." T-Dog finally responded and you nodded, slinging your crossbow over your shoulder.

"Just remember to go for the brain." You said staring at the leader, not bothering to look at the others before you began walking towards the door and the others followed.

Daryl and T-Dog took the lead, walking in front of the rest of you, their torches and weapons up as you walked behind them with the leader and a few other prisoners, while Rick and another guarded the rear.

"Man, it's too damn dark in here." One of the prisoners complained and you had to bite back your response knowing you were going to say something rude and sarcastic.

"Gotta hold it up high out in front of ya. You're gonna hear 'em before ya see 'em." Daryl muttered, looking over his shoulder at the prisoner as his eyes glancing over at you before he turned around and focused back on the task at hand.

Suddenly you could hear the familiar groans of walkers and Daryl quickly made you all stop as you looked ahead to find a few walkers turning the corner towards you. You raised your bow aiming at the closest walker as you kept your eye on Daryl as he held his hand up and began counting to three on his fingers, but before he could get to the three the prisons suddenly charged, shouting and yelling as they ran for the walkers.

You watched as they started bashing the walkers, stabbing them through their stomachs and kicking them with all their strength. You shared an annoyed glanced with Daryl and Rick. Rick told them to not break formation. Did they not just hear you guys earlier? You told them to go for the head too, but clearly that went over their heads.

"Did you guys not hear a word we just said earlier?" You questioned, making sure they could tell you were annoyed by the tone in your voice as you all began walking down the hallway after they finally killed the walkers.

"It's gotta be the brain. Not the stomach, not the heart." Daryl added, aiming his crossbow at another walker down the hall as he shot it in the head and it dropped to the ground instantly. "The brain." He stated glancing at the prisoners behind him.

"I hear you." One of the prisoners replied as he took a step forward, hitting the next walker in the head with his shovel. "Like that?"

"Uh-huh." Daryl responded as you and Rick stabbed the next two walkers getting closer.

"Stay in tight formation. No more prison riot crap." Rick shouted as more walkers started spilling through around the corner and within a few seconds you were all quickly killing the walkers, one after the other, when you noticed one of the prisoners slipped away from the group.

You began to follow him just as a walker came up behind him, ripping its fingers through the mans shoulder as he screamed in pain. You quickly took out another walker in front of him, stabbing it through the temple as Rick reached your side, relief washing over him once he realised you weren't the one bitten.

You were about stab the walker who attacked the prisoner, taking a step towards the other man when sudden gunfire erupted as bullets flew past you, inches away from your body as you froze in shock before quickly turning around to find the leader with his gun raised at the walker he just killed.

"Are you fucking crazy?!" You snapped taking a step towards him in sudden anger as Rick grabbed your arm holding you back. "You could have killed us!"

"Y/N, we don't have time to argue." Rick hissed as he turned his attention to the prisoner who had been scratched. Shit, that doesn't look good. You watched as Rick shone his flashlight at the mans shoulder and you could see the blood through his ripped tank top.

"I'm telling you, I don't feel anything. It's just a scratch." The prisoner stated looking over his shoulder at you and Rick as the other prisoners, Daryl and T-Dog reached your side.

"I'm sorry, man." Rick replied shaking his head sadly.

"I can keep fighting! You cut that old guys leg off to save his life." He argued.

"That won't work, look where the bite is." You stated pointing to the back of his shoulder.

"Look, man, there has to be something we can do." One of the other prisoners said.

"We could lock him up. Quarantine him. We gotta do something." Anther added.

"Why you just standing there? We gotta save him!"

"There's nothing we can do." Rick simply replied, looking over at the prisoners and you quickly took a step back as the leader suddenly slammed the end of his crowbar into the injured mans head, before he began bashing the mans skull against the floor. What the hell?! If that's what he does to his friends you'd hate to know what he would do anyone else.

You glanced at Rick, Daryl and T-Dog and you could tell they were all shocked and slightly worried. This man was out of control, he nearly killed you and Rick for crying out loud.

"Let's keep moving. Y/N, T, you guys go in front. Daryl and I will be at the rear." Rick instructed, trying to get back to the task at hand and you nodded knowing Rick and Daryl wanted to keep an eye on the leader. So you followed T-Dog down the hallway, holding your bow raised as the others followed behind you.

You walked in silence for a few minutes before you came across a door, T-Dog reached for the handle, looking over at you and you nodded as he opened it for you and you quickly walked in sweeping the area with your crossbow raised. It was some sort of laundry room, washing machines and sinks everywhere. There weren't any walkers in the room, but you could hear the groaning of them through another door across the room.

You took a step back watching as the leader walked over to the door as Daryl threw his set of keys to the leaders feet.

"I ain't opening that." He stated, staring at keys by his feet before he looked up at Daryl.

"Yes, you are. If you want this cellblock, you're gonna open that door. Just the one, not the both of them. Because we need to control this." Rick explained, watching as the leader picked the keys up off the ground and made his way towards the door.

You quickly took a step to the left, to get in a better position as you tightened your grip on the crossbow watching as the man struggled to open the door.

"I got this." He stated, yanking on the doors harder until they both swung open as walkers flooded into the room.

"I said one door!" You heard Rick yell to your right, but you were too focused on the walkers as you fired your bow, quickly reloading it again.

"Shit happens." The leader shouted in response as he began to swing his crowbar at the walker besides him and in a split second you grabbed Rick's shoulder pulling him backwards just as the leader swung his crowbar through the walker and narrowly missing Rick's head by inches.

"Watch it, asshole!" You shouted, glaring at the leader before you glanced over at Rick who gave you a nod before you turned away, slamming the end of your bow into the next walker. Suddenly you saw the leader throw a walker at Rick, but before you could do anything to help him Daryl shouted.

"Y/N, T, mind the gap!" He yelled and you nodded, turning your attention back to the walkers as you and T-Dog finished killing the last of them.

"It was coming at me, bro." The leader suddenly said defensively as Rick walked over to him.

"Yeah, I get it. I get it. Shit happens." Rick responded, taking another step forwards as the two men stared at each other, but you didn't miss the way Rick's fingers tightened around his machete and you had a feeling you knew what Rick was about to do.

You took a careful step closer to the two men and you watched as Rick suddenly slammed his machete into the leaders forehead, causing him to fall to his knees as Rick pulled the machete out, kicking his lifeless body to the ground.

"No!" The prisoner next to you screamed as he brought his baseball bat up getting ready to hit Rick before you quickly kicked the man in the stomach, causing him to fall backwards from the force, tripping over one of the walkers you had killed earlier before he quickly got up and sprinted out the doors. 

"Son of a bitch." You muttered as Rick chased after him through the dark hallways. You stayed with Daryl and T-Dog, keeping an eye on the other prisoners. Eventually Rick returned without the prisoner and he didn't have to explain anything, you all knew what had happened. After a small debate between the two remaining prisoners the three of you decided to give them the other cellblock under the condition that they didn't come anywhere near your people. 

You still weren't too keen with having the prisoners under the same roof as you, but they were in the other cellblock and you knew they weren't stupid enough to try anything, not after what just happened. 

"Hershel stopped breathing. Mum saved him." Carl suddenly said meeting you guys at the door to your cellblock as he unlocked it before leading you guys to Hershel's cell.

You and Daryl stood outside the cell, watching from a distance as everyone crowded in the small cell as Hershel started to stir on the bed. He's waking up.

"Daddy?" Maggie called softly, her voice thick with emotion as her and Beth crouched down besides his bed. He suddenly opened his eyes staring up at his daughters and you couldn't help the smile that appeared on your face as you watched the two girls cry with happiness.

Daryl slid his arm over your shoulders, pulling you into his side as you rested your head in the crook of his neck, watching the moment between the family. You may have only met these guys a few days ago, but they were like family to Daryl and already meant so much to you.

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

That night everyone was sitting on the ground in the cellblock eating their tea. Lori sat on the stairs whereas you, Daryl, Rick, Maggie and Glenn sat leaning against the wall while Carol, T-Dog, Beth and Carl sat a few metres in front of you so you could all talk while you ate. Usually you guys ate in the other room around the  tables and on the steps in the room, but none of you wanted to be away from Hershel, even though he had been sleeping for the past few hours anyway.

"I can't believe those prisoners had no idea what life was like outside this place." Carol suddenly said after Rick finished explaining to the others what happened with the prisoners.

"They wouldn't survive a minute outside this prison." Carl responded and you all nodded in agreement. If it wasn't for you guys, those prisoners would have no idea how to kill a walker, let alone know how to survive on the road.

You shifted slightly besides Daryl as you placed your small bowl on the floor next to you while the others began talking amongst themselves happily. The mood and spirits were quite high after everyone realised Hershel was going to be okay, he wouldn't be able to walk without crutches, but he was alive and that's all that mattered.

"I have an idea!" Beth suddenly stated, catching everyone's attention as she quickly stood up and raced to her cell. You looked up at Daryl in confusion, but he just shrugged his shoulders not knowing what the young girl was up to either. You moved closer to Daryl as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders pulling you closer.

"Y/N's been with us for a while, but we haven't had time to get to know her yet." Beth began explaining once she returned and suddenly you knew whatever she was planning wasn't going to be good.

"That's true. I have never seen Daryl this happy until you showed up. It would be good to get to know the woman behind Daryl's smile." Carol suddenly said and you heard a few of the others hum in agreement and you could already feel your cheeks blushing at the sudden unwanted attention.

"I'm a pretty boring person, you guys might be disappointed." You stated, looking around at everyone as Daryl chuckled softly besides you and you knew he was finding this whole situation amusing, knowing full well you would be hating the attention.

"This will be fun." Beth replied, smiling at you before she pulled out what looked to be a couple of dice from her pocket. "We all role the dice and whoever gets the highest number gets to ask Y/N a question."

"Wait, what if I roll the highest number?" You questioned looking over at Beth.

"Then you get to ask one of us a question. Who wants to play?" She asked looking around at the group as you shifted your body slightly to look at Daryl who was watching you with a smug expression. You rolled your eyes at him as you jabbed your elbow into his stomach softly which did nothing but make him laugh before you bought your attention back to the others.

"I'll play," Maggie said sitting up properly against the wall and everyone else agreed too, minus Daryl and Lori who said they were happy watching.

Slowly Beth handed the pair of dice around to the group as everyone took their turns rolling and it was just your luck to roll two one's, you were never going to win at this game. Glenn rolled the highest, but had to think of a question for a few seconds, not expecting to win the first round. The game went on for a while, everyone asking basic harmless questions like your favourite colour or what food you missed the most. You had only won once and asked what everyone used to do before the world went to shit.

"How'd you get that scar on the corner of your forehead?" Carl suddenly asked as he fiddled with the dice in his hands while looking at you. You should have seen that question coming, it's not like the scar was hard to spot. But still the question caught you off guard and you felt Daryl tense up slightly beside you at the mention of the scar that his father had put on you.

"Old childhood accident." You simply replied which was half true, but there was no way you were gonna them the real reason behind the scar and you doubted Daryl wanted to even think about that memory to begin with. Carl stared at you for a few seconds obviously wanting to know more, but once he realised that was all you were going to say he handed the dice back to Beth.

"Finally!" Beth shouted as she rolled double sixes winning instantly before her eyes flew over to you and Daryl. "How did you and Daryl first meet?" She asked and you sighed leaning back into Daryl's chest, his arm still wrapped around your shoulders. The first time you and Daryl actually spoke to each was when Frank nearly hit you with his car... this was going to be fun to explain.

"I moved into the house next door to him when I was like 11-12 years old I think and I started going to the same school as him, but we never actually talked until like a year after that." You explained, hoping you could get away with just that.

"How did you first start talking? Did you guys get paired up in class together or did you drop your school books and he picked them up for you?" Beth started asking and you shook your head as you heard Daryl chuckle softly besides you causing everyone to look at him.

"She nearly got ran over by a car on the way to school on mornin'." Daryl stated, causing everyone to look at you in shock, obviously not expecting that as you rolled your eyes.

"It wasn't my fault. It was a pedestrian crossing and my light was green, I didn't even think to check for cars and if Daryl hadn't pulled me back, I would have been hit." You explained and you could see the loving smiles on both the Greene girls faces as Daryl kissed your forehead before Beth began handing the dice around again.

"Best childhood memory?" Rick asked and you didn't even have to stop to think about that answer, it was easy.

"New Years Eve when I was like 16-17 years old. Merle had just got back after a few months away and wanted to celebrate. My mother and her boyfriend would have been at the local bar or something and Daryl's father wasn't home, so I spent the night at their house. Merle bought us alcohol and pizza and we spent most the night on couch talking and listening to AC/DC. Then just before it reached midnight we climbed onto the roof and watched the fireworks. It was one of the best nights ever, just laughing and having fun with Daryl and Merle, it was great." You explained unable to hide the smile on your face as you thought of that night.

"Wait are we thinking of the same Merle? Because the Merle I knew wasn't so great to be around and I mean that in the nicest way possible, sorry Daryl." Glenn responded and you felt Daryl stiffen slightly at the comment about his brother, he was always so defensive when it came to Merle. Everybody was quick to judge the older Dixon and although he could be a huge pain in the ass and would constantly annoy people hoping for a fight, he protected Daryl and looked out for him and after a few years he began doing the same for you too.

You grabbed Daryl's free hand, pulling it into your lap as your thumb rubbed smooth circles over the back of his hand gently and you felt him slowly relaxing besides you.

"Merle isn't as bad as you guys think. When you actually got to know him, he was a good man. Hot tempered and more of a punch first and ask questions later kinda guy, but his heart was always in the right place even if it might not seem like it." You answered, receiving slightly guilty and sad looks from a few of the group members. You knew it was because of what happened back in Atlanta, but you didn't say anything as you thought back to that night on News Years Eve with the brothers. Man, that day had started off bad and you never would have guessed that it would turn out to be one of your best memories.

_"Don't you walk away from me!" Frank yelled throwing his now empty bottle of beer against the floor by your feet causing you to jump in panic_ _,_ _suddenly glad you were wearing shoes._

_"Watch me!" You shouted over your shoulder, not even looking back at him as you walked out the front door, slamming it shut behind you. You were so done with Frank, you didn't even care if he'd hit you for yelling at him, you just couldn't hold back your anger anymore. First he stole money out your school bag a few weeks ago, then he took the money your mother had saved so she could get her chipped tooth fixed. And just this afternoon he went through your room, found your silver necklace that your father had given you before he died and Frank sold it for money to buy more alcohol! That was the last straw and you snapped_ _. You_ _started yelling at him which only resulted him shouting back at you and you knew if you didn't leave then it would get violent._

_Shaking your head you walked across the front yard, jumping over the dead hedges that seperated Franks house from the Dixon's house._

_It was New Year's Eve, so you and Daryl were on school holidays_ _,_ _but that didn't stop the two of you from hanging out. Hell_ _,_ _you were just with him yesterday out hunting in the woods_ _. He_ _was starting to teach you how to track now that you've mastered shooting his crossbow._

_"Damn I was gone for what three months? And you've suddenly grown a pair of boobs!" Merle's voice suddenly shouted and you looked to your left to find him sitting on a chair on the porch of his house. Well looks like someone finally got let out of juvie. He must have gotten out for good behaviour or something, he wasn't meant to be let out for another few weeks._

_"Not in the mood for your shit, Merle." You replied, crossing your arms over chest in annoyance, glaring at him._

_"Not even a hello or a welcome back? Damn what's gotten you so annoyed_ _Sugar_ _?" He questioned with a grin knowing that you hated being called that._

_"Don't push me Merle, it's been a shitty day." You answered as you began walking across the Dixon's yard towards their front door in search for Daryl._

_"Aww you poor girl. Had a bad day and suddenly it's the end of the world. How about you have a cup of cement and toughen up?" Merle said, but you didn't even bother replying as you flipped him off before climbing the two wonky steps onto the porch, heading for the door._

_"Is it your time of the month or something, S_ _ugar_ _?" Merle questioned, his eyes glued to you as you reached for the door handle before stopping after hearing what he just said._

_"If you don't stop talking, you'll be the one bleeding soon!" You snapped, glaring at the older Dixon before he chuckled and stood up._

_"Man that was too easy to get you rilled up. Come on, Daryl's in the garage." Merle said, his tone suddenly more gentle as he began walking down the steps towards the garage and you followed._

_"Daryl, Y/N is here and please tell me you guys_ _have finally hooked up_ _?" Merle asked as you walked into the garage to find Daryl crouched down next to Merle's motorcycle, no doubt trying to teach himself how to fix whatever is broken on it this time._

_"We're best friends, Merle." Daryl responded looking up to catch your eye as you gave him a slight smile, but he could instantly tell something was wrong. You guys had been friends for years, you knew each other better than you knew yourself. If Daryl was being honest he did want to date you, but he would never risk your friendship for his stupid feelings which he doubted you shared._

_"Friends with benefits?" Merle questioned raising his eyebrow at Daryl before looking over at you as you leant against the wall of the garage._

_"Fuck off, Merle." You stated sternly as you stared at him wishing he was anywhere but right here at that moment. You just wanted to be alone with Daryl for a while, he always knew how to make you feel better even if it was just by sitting in silence and helping him with whatever he was working on._

_"Somebody's cranky." Merle teased with a grin._

_"Somebody needs to shut the hell up." You muttered staring at the ground as you heard Merle chuckle softly at your response._

_"Alright. I'm going for a drive, I'll be back later." Merle finally said before walking out the garage towards his truck parked on the side of the road._

_Once you heard his truck drive off you walked around to Daryl's side of the garage, taking a seat on your usual metal stool by the work bench watching as Daryl finished tightening the last bolt on the bikes_ _engine_ _._

_"Ya alright? What's going on?" Daryl asked as he stood up and took a few steps towards you, concern spread across his face and you sighed. Daryl could always tell when something was bothering you._

_"Just shit with Frank, Merle heard us shouting from outside." You explained shaking your head as you looked up at Daryl._

_"He didn't hurt ya did he?" He questioned, his eyes scanning your face for any sign of bruises or makeup which he knew you only used to try hide the bruises._

_"Nah, I walked out before it could get that far. Is your dad still off with whatever women he's seeing at the moment?" You asked and Daryl nodded, but before you could continue talking he beat you to it._

_"Ya can say here tonight. Ya ain't going back to Franks, not when he'll be out drinking all New Years Eve." Daryl stated causing you to smile as you nodded in response._

_The two of you then began working on the motorcycle together, you didn't really know much about mechanics so you just tried to help where you could._

_"C'mon it's nearly seven, let's go find somethin' for tea." Daryl muttered, rubbing the grease off his hands before handing you the rag to do the same before the two of you made your way into the house._

_"Who's ready to party?" Merle's voice suddenly shouted as the front door to the house slammed open causing you and Daryl to look up from your spot on the couch as you put your plate of toast on the coffee table in front of you._

_"What are ya doing Merle?" Daryl questioned as his brother walked into the lounge room, dropping various bottles and cans of alcohol on the coffee table._

_"It's New Years Eve little brother, let's have some fun!" Merle exclaimed, cracking open a bottle of scotch with a grin. Daryl looked over at you and you could tell he wanted to join his brother, but didn't know how you felt about it._

_"Screw it, let's have some fun." You stated grabbing two of the bottles off the table as you handed Daryl one before relaxing into the couch taking a sip, trying your best not to show how much the alcohol burned your throat on the way down._

_By the time it was 11:00pm the three of you were all spread out over the two long couches, a few empty bottles of whisky and scotch on the coffee table as AC/DC music pumped through the speakers by the wall. Merle was already on his_ _sixth_ _can of whatever he was drinking while you and Daryl shared a bottle of whisky._

_"We should order pizza or something." You suddenly said as you handed the bottle back to Daryl beside you._

_"With what money?" Merle questioned from the other couch._

_"Use this." You replied pulling out fifty dollars from your pocket causing Merle's eyes to go wide at the amount of money you just had in your pocket._

_"Where the hell did you steal that from?" The older Dixon asked, sitting up straighter as he looked over at you in shock._

_"I challenged the rich kid at school to an arm wrestle. Told him that if I won he had to give me fifty dollars and if he won, then I would hook up with him, but I knew I wouldn't lose." You answered with a grin hearing Daryl chuckle as he remembered that particular lunch time at school._

_"How'd you know? A guy verses a girl, seems like he had the advantage there." Merle responded, taking another_ _sip_ _of his drink._

_"She's strong, bro. Stronger than most guys at school." Daryl answered passing the bottle back to you, but you shook your head, you were starting to feel the effects of alcohol and you didn't want to forget this night._

_"I have my father's old dumbbells in my room, I use them most days." You admitted._

_"Your father? Since when do you refer to Frank as your father?" Merle questioned in disbelief, but you quickly shook your head._

_"Since never. I meant my actual father." You replied looking over at Merle before standing up to change the song._

_"Where's your actual father now? I ain't ever seen him around here." Merle responded as you sat back down on the couch, leaning against Daryl slightly._

_"Merle." Daryl warned sending his brother a look, knowing what happened to your father. You told him about your fathers losing battle with cancer when Daryl told you about his mother. How she fell asleep with a cigarette in her hand which resulted in her burning the house down, with her still in bed. Hearing him tell you that story broke your heart, but it did bring the two of you closer._

_"He isn't around anymore. Cancer." You explained, looking down_ _at_ _your hands in your lap as you heard Merle curse under his breath. You weren't a fan of talking about this topic, it was years ago but it still hurt whenever you thought about it and it always made others sad and uncomfortable, so you tried to avoid the topic wherever possible._

_"Get up. I have an idea." Merle suddenly stated standing up from the couch as he headed towards the front door. You glanced over at Daryl in confusion, but he just shrugged his shoulders as the two of you followed the older Dixon outside to find him leaning a ladder against the roof. "Climb up."_

_"Is this a good idea?" You asked a little unsure, it was dark outside and Merle has had a bit to drink by now._

_"Probably not." Daryl muttered, but that didn't stop him from climbing_ _up_ _the ladder anyway and you followed._

_"Come sit over here, it's about to start." Merle shouted sitting down against the chimney. What's about to start? Why are we even up here anyway?_

_You sat down between the two brothers, looking up at the stars in the sky as Daryl wrapped his jacker over your shoulders noticing how cold you were. You were just about to ask Merle what you were doing up on the roof when suddenly fireworks erupted throughout the dark night. Colourful sparks soaring amongst the stars in the sky as your jaw dropped taking in the view._

_You quickly looked over at Daryl who was matching your amazed expression, his face lit up from the fireworks as he stared up at the sky, a smile edging on his face. You glanced across at Merle on the other side of you who was already watching the two of you, more interested in seeing your reactions as he took another swig of his drink._

_"Happy fucking New Year!" Merle shouted above the fireworks as you took in the scenery around you. You had never seen anything so beautiful and you had never seen the two brothers look so relaxed and happy, it was perfect._

-

"Okay lets get the other car in. We'll park them in the west entry of the yard." Rick instructed to you, Daryl, Rick, T-Dog and Carol. The sun was just starting to rise over the trees in the distance, but you guys had a big day ahead of you. "After that, we need to load up these corpses so we can burn them."

"Where's Glenn and Maggie? We could use some help." Carol responded, climbing out the car she just drove into the field as she jogged over to the rest of you.

"Up in the guard tower." You answered motioning towards the tower in the courtyard.

"Guard tower? They were just up there last night." Rick replied looking at you in confusion, but you shrugged your shoulders.

"Glenn! Maggie!" Daryl suddenly shouted and you all watched in amusement as Glenn opened the door to the guard tower shirtless as he looked down at you all from the platform.

"Hey, what's up guys?" He greeted trying to play it cool, but you all knew exactly what the two of them had been doing up there.

"Ya coming?" Daryl questioned making you and Rick laugh as Glenn looked at you all in confusion. Oh God the look on his face is priceless.

"What?"

"You comin'? Come on, we could use a hand." Daryl replied waving for them to help you guys as you all began walking back to the cars, to continue shifting them.

"Hey, Rick." T-Dog's voice suddenly called and you froze hearing the slight edge to his tone as you turned around to spot the two prisoners in the distance walking towards you.

"Come with me." Rick muttered as you all began walking towards the prisoners. You grabbed the strap to your crossbow over your shoulder, ready to grab it in case they tried something. You could see Daryl holding the handle of his knife on his belt and you knew he was cursing himself for leaving his bow in the cellblock. "That's close enough. We had an agreement."

"Please, Mister. We know that. We made a deal. But you've gotta understand we can't live in that place another minute. You follow me? All the bodies... people we knew. Blood, brains everywhere. There's ghosts." The blonde man explained as Glenn and Maggie walked out the watchtower behind them, eyeing the prisoners carefully.

"Why don't ya move the bodies out?" Daryl questioned from besides you.

"We tried. We did. The fence is down on the far side of the prison. Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up." The other man replied.

"Look, we had nothing to do with Thomas and Andrew. Nothing. You trying to prove a point? You proved it, bro. We'll do whatever it takes to be part of your group. Just, please." The blonde man begged and you released your grip on your bow, these guys weren't gonna try anything.

"Our deal is not negotiable. You either live in your cellblock, or you leave." Rick responded.

"I told you this was a waste of time. They ain't no different than the pricks who shot up our boys. You know how many friends' corpses we had to drag out this week? Just threw 'em out, like..." The taller prisoner began to say, but you shook your head.

"You think that's bad? How about watching members of your group get torn apart by walkers? How about having to kill your friends to put them out their misery before they turned? How about watching people you love kill themselves because they couldn't handle living in this world? You think dragging corpses out of your cellblock is bad, buddy you haven't seen anything." You stated staring at the two prisoners as you felt Daryl grab your hand, squeezing it softly as you took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for the things you guys have had to do. We've both made mistakes to get in here. And I'm not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me we've paid our due, enough that we would rather hit the road than go back into that shithole." The man replied staring at Rick as he turned around to look at Daryl who shook his head and with that you and Daryl showed the prisoners out the fence, locking the gate behind them before you made your way back to the others who were standing by the upturned bus talking.

"You want them living in a cell next to you? They'll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons. You want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?" Rick questioned, looking at T-Dog and you quickly realised what their conversation was about it.

"I never stopped. Bring them into the fold. If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves." T-Dog responded.

"I don't know, Axel seems a little unstable." Glenn stated as you looked over at him and Maggie and nodded in agreement.

"It's just been us for so long. They're strangers. I don't... It feels weird all of a sudden to have these people around." Maggie said.

"Your family bought us in back on the farm. We bought Y/N in without hesitation, it doesn't feel weird with her around here. If it wasn't for her, Thomas would have killed Rick and I doubt we would have been able to clear this prison without her." T-Dog replied and you had to admit he made a fairly valid point.

"Yeah, but she's Daryl's girlfriend. She's already like family to us and proved her loyalty when she saved us in that town when most people would have just turned a blind eye." Maggie replied and you couldn't help the small smile on your face after hearing her say that.

"Those guys might actually have less blood on their hands then we do." T-Dog said and again he had a fair point, but still the thought of them living with you all together in the prison just didn't feel right.

"I get guys like this. Hell, we grew up with 'em." Daryl suddenly said looking over at you before focusing on the others. "They're degenerates, but they ain't psychos. I could have been with them just as easy as I am out here with you, guys."

"So are you with me?" T-Dog asked, but Daryl shook his head.

"Hell, no. Let 'em take their chances out on the road, just like we did." Daryl responded and before T-Dog could reply Rick began talking.

"When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid, 19 years old. Wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. This kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial... he suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence, and two weeks later shot another girl. We've been through too much. Our deal with them stands." Rick responded and you all began walking towards the vehicles parked by the front gate so you could move them into the courtyard. Rick and T-Dog were talking behind you, saying something about giving the prisoners a week supply of food or something. You weren't paying attention as you walked over to Merle's old motorcycle, kickstarting the bike as you revved the engine before sitting on the back seat waiting for Daryl.

"Twin cylinder. Is that a Triumph?" The blonde prisoner asked looking over at Daryl who was walking towards you.

"Don't even look at it." He muttered, climbing onto the bike as he revved the engine.

"That's one badass chick you got, knows how to fight and knows her way around a motorcycle." The man added which only resulted in Daryl glaring at the man.

"Don't look at her either." He muttered causing you to laugh as he put the bike into gear and followed the cars through the gate towards the courtyard.

"Daryl, Glenn, lets go get some firewood to help burn the corpses." Rick shouted as you and Daryl climbed off the bike.

"Be careful out there. I'll help Maggie and Carol finish moving these cars." You replied and Daryl nodded as he jogged over to Rick and Glenn. You couldn't help but watch him for a few seconds as a smile spread across your face. Things were really starting to look up, maybe this group can really build something here.

 

 

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

By the time you guys finished moving the cars you spotted Hershel, Lori, Beth and Carl walking down the stairs to the prison into the courtyard. Hershel sporting his new crutches and actually doing a pretty good job.

"Your father is one tough man." You commented looking over at Maggie as the two of you made your way towards them, you glanced over your shoulder spotting Daryl, Rick and Glenn all watching from the far fence of the field as they collected firewood.

"Walkers!" Carl suddenly shouted and you quickly turned back around to find a group walkers spilling into the courtyard from behind the buildings. Shit.

"Beth, get your dad to that gate!" You shouted pointing towards the wire gate like door behind them and she nodded before you turned your attention back to Lori and Carl, trying to think of a way out of this, there were too many walkers for you guys to fight off on your own.

"Lori! Carl! Y/N! Come on, this way!" Maggie suddenly shouted, running towards the door that lead to your cellblock.

You quickly grabbed Lori's hand as the two of you rushed towards the door, following behind Carl as Maggie shut it behind you all.

"Shit." You muttered spotting walkers inside the cellblock as Maggie quickly lead you through a different door as you fired your crossbow at one of the walkers getting too close before you ran after the others through the dark halls.

A few minutes later the prison sirens began ringing through the speakers, but you didn't have time to figure out how they got turned on because Lori's baby was coming. Could anything more go wrong right now?!

"In here!" Carl shouted, opening up some random door, but you weren't going to question it, walkers were coming down the hallway, you needed to get Lori away from them.

You quickly scanned the room with Carl making sure it was safe and secure as Maggie helped Lori slowly down the steps. She couldn't have the baby now, God damn it she needed Hershel.

"We have to get back to our cellblock to have Hershel help." Carl suddenly said as the two of you walked back over to the women by the wall.

"We can't risk getting caught out there." Lori replied through gritted teeth, clearly in a lot of pain, but there was nothing you could do about that. You had painkillers, but there were back in the cellblock too.

"You're gonna need to give birth to this baby here." Maggie informed, looking over at you and you nodded walking over to the women.

"Let's get your pants off and lay you down. It's gonna be alright." You said calmly, helping Lori down to the ground.

"You're gonna need to help deliver your brother or sister. You up for it?" Maggie asked looking up at Carl and he nodded. "Alright, let me see if its dilated."

"Do you know how?" Carl asked and Maggie nodded.

"Dad taught me, but trust me, it's my first time." Maggie replied and you felt yourself relax slightly knowing that Maggie knew what to do. The only birth you had ever helped with was a c-section and it didn't end well.

"I gotta push." Lori gasped, trying to stand up and you and Maggie quickly helped her as she grabbed onto the wall for support.

"You're doing great Lori, keep going." You encouraged, not knowing what else to do as you stood besides her in case she lost her balance or something while Maggie crouched down next to her. You stayed like that for a few minutes, feeling utterly helpless when Maggie suddenly shouted.

"Lori, don't push. Somethings wrong!" She said and you looked down at Maggie to find her hand covered in Lori's blood. That isn't good.

Everything just started happening so quickly, one minute Lori was fine and trying to push, the next she was laying on the ground, her skin ghostly pale and you knew something was horribly wrong.

"Mum? Mum, look at me. Keep your eyes open." Carl begged sitting next to her as you and Maggie sat on her other side.

"Lori, with all this blood, I don't even think you're fully dilated yet. No amount of pushing is gonna help." Maggie said softly, emotion thick in her voice as you tried to remain calm, trying to think back to what the doctor in your old group taught you.

"I know what it means, and I'm not losing this baby. You've gotta cut me open." Lori said softly and you could tell she was forcing herself to stay conscious even though it was extremely obvious she was close to passing out.

"No... I can't. Carol's the one that practice that. I-I can't, I don't know how." Maggie panicked looking over at you with pleading eyes and you sighed, grabbing Lori's hand.

"I've helped someone do a c-section in my old group, but Lori you'll bleed out before I even finish, you won't survive this. We don't have the supplies and-" You began to say before she cut you off.

"You don't have a choice. I know what will happen, but my baby has to survive. Carl has a knife, please Y/N." Lori begged and you could feel tears rising in your eyes as you gave her a soft nod.

"Carl? Baby, I don't want you to be scared, okay? This is what I want. Now you-you take care of your daddy for me alright? And your little brother or sister, you have to take-" Lori began saying before Carl shook his head.

"You don't have to do this." Carl whispered and you looked over at Maggie who was kneeling besides you, tears falling down her cheeks as the two of you watched Carl and Lori say goodbye.

"You are gonna beat this world. I know you will. You are smart, and you are strong and you are so brave, and I love you." Lori whispered.

"I love you too."

"You gotta do what's right, baby. You promise me, you'll always do what's right. It's so easy to do the wrong thing in this world. So if it feels wrong, don't do it, alright? You're so good. You're my sweet boy. The best thing I ever did. I love you. I love you." Lori cried as she pulled Carl into a hug and now tears were falling down your cheeks too. This couldn't be happing, Lori can't die. Carl can't lose his mother, not like this. Rick can't lose her, the group can't lose her.

"It's alright. It's alright." Lori said softly as Carl handed you his knife. "Good night, love." Lori whispered looking up at the roof waiting for you to do it.

"I'm sorry." You whispered, taking a shaky breath as you sliced the knife along her old c-section scar. You tried to ignore her piercing screams as you focused on what you were doing, knowing that if you cut too deep, you'll cut the baby.

"What are you doing to her?" Carl screamed as Maggie grabbed his shoulders to stop him from pushing you away from his mother, who you knew wasn't alive anymore now that her screams had stopped.

"I can see it." You announced, trying to keep your voice calm as Carl and Maggie cried beside you. You quickly pulled off your shirt not caring that you were just wearing a bra underneath as you handed it to Maggie. "I'm gonna try pull it out."

"Okay." Carl whispered as you grabbed what you thought was the arm of the baby and within seconds you had the baby out, but it wasn't moving or crying or anything. Shit. No. No. This is not happening again, this baby is not dying too.

"Come on. Please." You begged softly as you turned the baby on her stomach and patted her back gently until she started crying. "Oh thank God." You gasped, as you cut the umbilical cord and Maggie handed you your shirt as you wrapped the baby up in it.

"We have to go." Maggie said as you all stood up. You cradled the baby close to your chest hushing soft words to her, trying to stop her crying.

"We can't just leave her here. She'll turn." Carl suddenly said and before you knew what was happening Carl dropped down besides his mother, hugging her as you followed Maggie to the door, giving the kid some privacy as she checked to make sure the walkers were gone when a gunshot filled the air.

***Meanwhile***

"Y/N?!" Daryl shouted as him, Rick, Glenn and the two prisoners all ran out the prison into the courtyard after clearing the cellblock. Hershel and Beth still standing in the courtyard by themselves. No sign of the others.

"She's not here. You didn't find them?" Hershel questioned as they all ran over to the father and daughter by the steps.

"We thought maybe they came back out here." Glenn answered as Daryl looked around the courtyard trying to find any sign of where you were. He couldn't lose you again, he just got you back.

"What about T? Carol?" Hershel asked, but Daryl shook his head.

"They didn't make it." He muttered looking down at the ground.

"That doesn't mean the others didn't! We're going back. Daryl and Glenn, you come with-" Rick began ordering before the sound of a baby crying filled the air and they all turned around to find you, Maggie and Carl walking towards them, the baby in your arms as you held her to your chest.

You watched as they all stared at you in shock and sadness, obviously realising what just happened as Rick began walking towards you. You tried to speak, but you couldn't as your body shook and tears fell down your face.

"Where-Where is she? Where is she?" Rick questioned walking towards you, his eyes scanning your face trying to find any sign that his wife was still alive as you shook your head slightly.

"I'm sorry." You whispered, looking at the man through teary eyes as he shook his head in disbelief before he looked at the door where you guys came from and you knew what he wanted to do. "No, Rick. No." You sobbed trying to grab his arm to stop him from going to find Lori, but he easily shrugged your hand off as he walked over to Carl.

"Oh, no. No! No! No!" Rick cried from behind you as you slowly walked towards Daryl who quickly dropped his crossbow grabbing your shoulders, looking you up and down to make sure you weren't hurt. But when he saw all the dry blood over your arms as you held the baby to your chest he knew what you had to do.

"I-I couldn't... she's gone." You sobbed, tears running down your face as Daryl pulled you into a hug being mindful of the baby as he held you closely.

"Shhh. I know." He whispered, resting his hand on the back of your head as you buried your face into his neck, unable to stop the tears pouring down your face.

You weren't sure how much time had passed, probably only a few minutes because when you pulled away from Daryl everyone was still standing exactly where they were earlier. You looked up at Daryl, his hands still on your shoulders as he nodded towards to Rick and you quickly nodded, knowing Daryl wanted to try talk to him.

You watched as Daryl slowly walked towards his friend, crouching down in front of him as he waved his hands in front of the other mans face trying to get his attention. "Rick, ya with me? Rick?" Daryl asked, but it was clear Rick was not on this planet at the moment before Carl walked over to you, wanting to see his baby sister as you crouched down on the ground so Carl could see her.

"Let me see the baby." Hershel called and you nodded following Carl towards the other man.

"We gotta feed it. We got anythin' a baby can eat?" Daryl questioned, walking back over to the rest of you as Hershel examined the baby in your arms.

"The good news is she looks healthy. But she needs formula and soon, or she won't survive." Hershel finally said looking over at the rest of the group.

"No. No way. Not her. We ain't losing nobody else. I'm goin' for a run." Daryl suddenly said, picking up his crossbow from the ground as he slung it over his shoulders before looking over at you.

"I'll go with you." You quickly said, but he shook his head.

"No, ya ain't in no condition to go out there. Stay here and look after her." Daryl replied and you reluctantly nodded, knowing now was not the time to start an argument with Daryl, this baby needed formula.

"I'll back you up." Maggie suddenly spoke up, glancing over at you with a sad smile knowing you didn't want Daryl to go alone.

"I'll go too." Glenn said and Daryl nodded before he began shouting orders to everyone, trying to get everything organised. But you were more focused on Rick as he grabbed his axe and began walking towards the door you guys came out from.

"Rick!" You shouted, but he didn't stop as he dissapearded through the door.

"Come on, we're gonna lose the light!" Daryl said as he walked over to you, giving you a soft kiss. "I love ya, I'll be back soon."

"Be careful." You whispered and Daryl nodded before he took off running with Maggie and Glenn towards the vehicles while the two prisoners ran to get the gates for them.

Once they left the rest of you went back into your cellblock while the prisoners stayed by the gates and guard tower, waiting for Daryl and Maggie to return.

Beth found you one of Maggie's spare tank tops to put on since yours was now being used as a baby blanket. You let Carl, Beth and Hershel look after the baby, since you literally knew nothing about looking after babies, so you opted to help Glenn dig graves for Lori, T-Dog and Carol. Axel and Oscar came to take over from you Glenn after nearly an hour of digging and you let them, knowing you both needed a rest. Those prisoners were starting to prove themselves as good people, but right now the main focus was on the baby.

"They'll be back soon, don't worry." Hershel suddenly said as you looked up from your spot on the stairs in the large room next to the cells as Hershel came through the door.

"It's already dark. They-" You began to say when the door behind you opened and you stood up as Maggie and Daryl walked in. You quickly hugged him as relief washed over you before he let you go in search of the baby.

"How's she doing?" He questioned as he walked over to Carl, taking the baby in his arms gently. "Shhh, it's okay." He whispered as he cradled the baby before grabbing the bottle of formula Beth and Maggie quickly made.

"Come on." He whispered as he held the bottle up for the little girl and suddenly she stopped crying as she began to drink. Daryl glanced over at you with a smile and you smiled back at the sight of him feeding the tiny baby before he looked over at Carl. "She got a name yet?"

"Not yet. But I was thinking maybe Sophia. Then there's Carol, too. And Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Or Lori, I don't know." Carl replied softly looking down at the ground and your heart broke hearing the boy talk. He was too young for this cruel world.

"You like that? Huh? Little ass-kicker. That's a good name, right?" Daryl asked looking up from the baby at the rest of you and you smiled, chuckling softly with a nod. "You like that, huh? You like that, sweetheart?"

You smiled watching as Daryl finished feeding the baby before handing her to Hershel who knew how to burp her properly. You watched Hershel for a few seconds, he was probably the best person to look after the baby until Rick sorted himself out. You hadn't seen him all day and when Glenn returned after talking to him it was clear the other man needed some space and time to come to terms with Lori's death.

"Hey, ya alright?" Daryl asked, taking a seat beside you on the steps as Hershel began rocking the baby in his arms.

"Are you? You knew these people since the beginning, I only met them a week ago." You answered referring to Lori, Carol and T-Dog as you leant your head on his shoulder and he rested his hand on your thigh and you smiled at the small gesture. "Don't try lie to me Dixon. It doesn't matter that we haven't seen each other for a few years, I can still read you like a book." You commented and you felt Daryl nod slightly as he let out a soft chuckle.

"I hated that when we were kids. Could never hide anythin' from ya." Daryl muttered causing you to smile. "I'm alright, I gotta be. Someone needs to step up while Rick is down."

"It doesn't have to be just you, Daryl. This group is like family to me now and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to keep them safe and alive, it's what Lori would have wanted." You said looking over at the rest of the group. Hershel, Beth and Carl were all crowded around Little Ass-kicker, trying to get her to sleep while Glenn, Maggie, Axel and Oscar all stood off the side talking quietly.

"In the mornin' I'll start digging the graves." Daryl said after a few minutes of silence causing you to lift your head to look up at him.

"Glenn and I did that today, I made three crosses to mark the graves too. We buried T-Dog and Lori. We didn't have Carol's body, but we made her a grave anyway, she deserved that much." You answered softly as Daryl looked down at you with a sad but grateful smile before he pulled you into his chest.

"Thank you." He whispered, kissing your forehead as you hugged him back.

-

The next morning you woke up to the sun seeping through the large windows in the cellblock signalling that it was morning and you sighed. You had barely gotten any sleep last night, your dreams turned nightmares of you killing Lori to save the baby. It was what Lori wanted, but you hated yourself for doing it and you hated how Carl had to watch it too.

You glanced around the cellblock from yours and Daryls bed at the top of the staircase, spotting Beth walking around the room slowly with the baby asleep in her arms and you smiled at the sight before rolling over to see if Daryl was awake, but he wasn't there.

Frowning, you sat up on the mattress pushing Daryl's poncho off your body. You noticed his crossbow was gone from the side of the bed and you realised he was probably out visiting the graves.

After a few minutes you finally forced yourself out of bed, even though you would have liked nothing more than to crawl back onto the mattress and go back to sleep, but soon everyone else would be awake.

"Morning, Beth. How'd you go with Little Ass-kicker last night? I heard her cry a few times. If you want I can take her for a while or during the nights so you can get some sleep?" You offered, but the younger girl shook her head as you walked down the stairs from yours and Daryl's perch.

"It's okay. I like looking after her, it gives me something to do and helps me contribute to the group. You're always out with the men fighting and keeping the group safe. I can't do that, but I can help out around here and with the baby." Beth answered softly looking down at the baby before back at you as you slid your crossbow over your shoulder so it was out the way.

"You are really good with her Beth, she's lucky to have you. The group is lucky to have you." You replied causing the younger girl to smile before you made your way into the other room and began making breakfast for everyone out of the food from the cafeteria.

Slowly everyone began trickling into the room, taking a seat at the small metal tables in the middle of the room as you started handing out bowls of cereal to everyone before Daryl walked in, a slight surprised look on his face when he spotted you handing out food.

"Good morning." Maggie suddenly called, walking through the door from the cellblocks before she took a seat beside Glenn as Daryl walked over to you.

"My idea of a good morning is waking up, opening my eyes, taking a deep breath and then going back to sleep. That is a good morning." You commented, handing Maggie a bowl of food causing the group to laugh and you smiled noticing Carl laughed too before he continued eating. You walked back to the food grabbing yours and Daryl's bowls as the two of you sat down on the stairs that lead to the courtyard. Before you could ask Daryl if he was okay, knowing he had just visited the graves, the door on the other side of the room opened and you quickly reached for your bow over your shoulder as Rick's voice filled the room and you relaxed.

"Everyone alright?" He asked walking into the room as he took in everyone sitting in the room before he walked towards Carl and the others sitting at the table.

"Yeah, we are." Maggie answered, looking at Rick as he nodded.

"What about you?" Hershel questioned.

"I cleared out the boiler block." Rick responded not answering Hershel's question, but it was clear that he wasn't alright.

"How many were there?" Daryl asked from beside you and Rick shrugged.

"I don't know. A dozen, two dozen. I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl." He said and you quickly stood up, placing your bowl on the stairs.

"Don't worry about it, we can handle taking the bodies out. Have some breakfast Rick. You don't have to do this." You said gently taking a step towards him as he shook his head.

"No, I do. Everyone have a gun and knife?" Rick questioned looking between you and Daryl and you nodded.

"Yeah. Running low on ammo, though." Daryl said before Glenn walked over to the three of you.

"Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon. Found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula." Glenn informed looking at Rick.

"We cleared out the generator room. Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well." Daryl added.

"Good, good." Rick replied, looking at the three of you for a few seconds before he walked back through the door, shutting it behind himself. Damn it, he needed to take a break and have something to eat.

"He's strong. He just needs time." You said softly, looking at the door he just walked out of before sitting back down on the stairs next to Daryl. You all continued eating for a while longer, but you kept an eye on Carl making sure he ate all his food.

"Hey, Y/N? What are you doing this afternoon?" Maggie suddenly questioned looking over at you from the table as you shrugged your shoulders.

"I was gonna help Daryl and Oscar sweep the lower levels of the prison and clear it out, why?" You asked looking over at the other woman.

"We were wondering if you wanted to join us on our supply run? We could use your skill and knowledge out there, but if they need your help to-" Maggie began to say before Carl suddenly started talking.

"I can help them clear the lower levels, that way Y/N can help you guys out there." The boy spoke up and you gave him a grateful smile before looking over at Daryl who seemed to be slightly unsure about the situation.

"I'll be fine, just look out for Carl, alright? The kid is going through hell, he could use some time with a father figure." You whispered and Daryl sighed, but nodded knowing he wouldn't be able to convince you to stay even though he didn't like the thought of you going outside the fences without him.

"When are you guys thinking of heading out?" You questioned looking back over at the other couple who shared a quick look before turning back to you.

"Whenever you're ready, the sooner we go the sooner we can get back." Glenn answer and you nodded standing up as they did as well.

"Be careful, I ain't loosing ya too." Daryl muttered looking up at you as knelt down in front of him giving him a gentle kiss.

"You won't. I'll see you later today." You said softy as you pulled away and Daryl nodded giving you a small smile before you followed Maggie and Glenn grabbing your backpacks and gear before heading out.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

  
"So what's the plan?" You questioned, leaning forward in the backseat so you could talk to Maggie and Glenn properly as Glenn drove the SUV down the road.

"There's a few stores we can hit once we reach the place and we'll focus on ammo and baby formula, but keep an eye out for anything else that might be useful." Glenn answered and you nodded, taking a sip of water from your water bottle before handing it to Maggie.

"I'm sorry Y/N." Maggie suddenly said as she put the cap back on the water bottle causing you to frown at her in confusion. Why is she sorry? What happened?

"For what?" You questioned in complete confusion.

"For yesterday. For making you cut the baby out even though Lori asked me. I shouldn't have put that pressure and burden on you. I'm s-" Maggie began explaining, but you quickly shook your head.

"Stop." You said softly, trying to get that memory out of your head. "You don't have to apologise for that. I've watched someone do a c-section before, so I knew what to do anyway, I'm sorry there wasn't anything I could do to save Lori." You replied causing Maggie to turn around in her seat to face you with a sad smile.

"We're here guys." Glenn suddenly said not giving Maggie a chance to reply as you looked out the window before Glenn parked by the door to some sort of supermarket.

"Clear outside." Maggie called as you and Glenn grabbed your bags from the back of car before heading towards the store. "Hey." Maggie said causing you and Glenn to turn around as Maggie quickly kissed him and you rolled your eyes as you loaded your crossbow, holding it up as you walked towards the door.

"Get a room, love birds." You called over your shoulder and you smiled hearing the couple laugh before you opened the door, but you quickly ducked as birds or bats or some sort of animals with wings suddenly flew out. "Well I didn't see that coming." You mumbled, turning your torch on as you walked into the store, your bow raised.

After a few minutes the three of you managed to clear the small store of its few walkers before you began scanning the aisles for supplies. The place was a gold mine for baby formula, so much that Maggie and Glenn had to go back to the car to drop off their shopping baskets before grabbing more to fill them up.

While they went back to the car you continued to the scan the aisles, in hope to find any ammo or weapons, but so far you were having no luck. You were about to check around the back of the store when you suddenly heard voices shouting from outside and you instantly knew something was wrong, Glenn and Maggie wouldn't be yelling at each other, especially out here.

You quickly dropped the basket you were holding and raised your crossbow as you made your way towards the front door. You jumped hearing a gunshot and froze for a split second before sprinting through the front door to find Glenn holding his up gun at someone on the other side of the SUV, but you couldn't see Maggie anywhere.

"Let go of her. Let go of her!" Glenn shouted and you instantly knew whoever it was must have Maggie hostage or something. Thinking on your feet you quickly snuck around the other side of the vehicle spotting a man. His back was to you as he sat on the ground holding Maggie to his chest with a gun pointed at her, along with some sort of handmade knife bayonet thing attached to his hand. But you figured that was a question for later because right now Maggie was in trouble.

"Drop the gun and let her go. We can sort this out." You stated sternly, gripping your bow tighter as you aimed it at the back of the mans head.

"Holy shit! Is that you Y/N?" The man questioned and you froze recognizing the voice instantly. The man slowly stood up pulling Maggie with him as he turned slightly to face you and your eyes went wide. Merle. It's actually him. How was he even alive? Why was his gun aimed Maggie? He knew Glenn, what the hell is he doing?

"Let her go, Merle. She's a good person." You said calmly not lowering your crossbow, even though every muscle in your body was telling you to lower it because it's Merle, but you weren't stupid. He had a gun to Maggie and you knew how much the apocalypse can change people, so you weren't taking any chances. 

"This doesn't concern you, Y/N!" Merle shouted glaring at you and you stared at him in confusion, this wasn't the Merle you remembered. Yeah, he could be a dick sometimes, but something was different about him.

"These people are my family. They're Daryl's family. Let her go and we will sort this out." You tried to say, but Merle shook his head.

"They're your family? They left me on the roof in Atlanta and since you and Daryl have found each other I'm pretty sure you would know about that story. How could ya be friends with them after what they did?!" He snapped causing Maggie to flinch at the sudden harshness in his tone, but you stood your ground.

"I know you Merle and this isn't you." You replied softly, trying to keep your voice calm as you lowered your crossbow taking a few steps towards him with your hands out to show that you weren't going to hurt him.

"Y/N." Glenn warned and you glanced over at him, his gun still raised at Merle as he shook his head at you, clearly not liking the idea of you getting close to the man.

"He isn't going to hurt me. The Merle I know would never hurt me." You said looking back at Merle as you grabbed his shoulder gently. But before you could try get him away from Maggie he suddenly swung his arm, slamming the butt of his gun against your forehead. You hit the ground with a solid thud and you could feel blood trickling down the side of your face.

"Now we're gonna go for a little drive." Merles voice stated in the background somewhere, but at the moment you were too focused on not passing out as you laid on the ground.

"We're not going back to our camp." Glenn's voice replied.

"No, we're gonna go somewhere else. Now get Y/N and get in the car! You're driving Glenn!" Merle shouted and before you knew what was happening Glenn was helping you to you feet and pushing you into the car. You were seated between Maggie and Merle and you could feel the barrel of his gun pressed against your head to make Glenn drive.

"You don't wanna do this, Merle. Wherever you're taking us, you don't have to. We can get Daryl and we can sort something out." You groaned, sitting up in the seat properly as you grabbed Maggie's hand, trying to calm her down. She wouldn't have met Merle before and you could only imagine how terrifying this would be. Hell, you were kinda scared right now and you used to know Merle, but now you weren't so sure.

"You don't know shit about me, Sugar. Not anymore, now shut up. Glenn take the next left." Merle stated, but you shook your head not taking no for an answer.

"I know nearly everything about you! You were like a big brother to me when Daryl and I were kids. I know you and this isn't you. Merle, come on man." You said turning your head to face him, ignoring the gun still pressed against your head. "Daryl wouldn't want you doing this." You added staring him and for a second you thought you might have gotten through to him, but the next thing you saw was the butt of that god damn gun and then everything went black. 

-

"I wanna know where your camp is, and I wanna know now. I wanna know now!" Someone shouted in the distance as you woke up with a groan. Your head thumping through your skull and for a few seconds you couldn't figure out why it was hurting. You opened your eyes and saw Maggie tied to a chair besides you and suddenly everything came flooding back.

"Son of a bitch." You muttered noticing you were tied to a chair as well, your gun and crossbow nowhere to be seen. You quickly scanned the room, taking in your surroundings. You were in some sort of room with metal tin walls which clearly weren't that thick because you could hear someone getting beat up in the next room over. There was a table in front of you and Maggie and another chair on the other side.

"Where the hell are they? Tell me!" Merle's voice yelled and your blood ran cold when you realised he was talking to Glenn and the person getting beat up was him.

"He wants to know where our camp is, but we-" Maggie began to sob looking at you with teary eyes and you nodded, knowing what she was gonna say.

"We can't tell him, I know. He's clearly with another group of people, we can't risk everyone's safetly back home. Merle ain't right and I have a bad feeling whoever he is with is the reason behind it." You muttered, glancing around the room trying to find anyway out of this place.

-

***Meanwhile at the prison***

"Rick." Daryl called walking into the main room, next to the cellblock to find Rick leaning over a woman with dreadlocks who was lying on the ground, while Hershel and Carl stood close by watching. He would have asked who the woman was, but right now he was too focused on who he just found. "Y'all come on in here."

"Everything alright?" Rick asked, standing up from the stranger on the ground, who seemed to be injured, but he couldn't be sure.

"You're gonna wanna see this." Daryl replied and Rick nodded, turning back to the woman on the ground.

"Carl get the bags. We'll keep this safe and sound. The doors are all locked, you'll be safe here. We can treat that." Rick said, grabbing the white katana off the ground as he nodded towards the bullet wound on her thigh.

"I didn't ask for your help." The woman responded glaring up Rick who shrugged his shoulders.

"It doesn't matter. Can't let you leave." Rick answered before following the others into the cellblock to see what Daryl was talking about as they reached a cell and Carol stood up.

"Thank God. Thank God." Rick whispered as he pulled Carol into a hug causing Daryl to smile slightly watching the small reunion. Hershel came in, giving her a hug too before Beth walked towards the cell holding the baby and straight away Carol realised what happened by the sudden change in everyone's expression.

"I'm sorry." Carol cried giving Rick another hug before she took the baby off Beth. Everyone watched in amusement as Carol played with the little girl before Rick motioned to Daryl to follow him as they went back into the other room. Daryl quickly grabbing his crossbow, not trusting the stranger and Hershel followed too.

"We can tend to that wound for you, give you a little food and water, and then send you on your way. But you're gonna have to tell us how you found us and why you were carrying formula." Rick stated as they all walked into the room towards the woman who was now sitting on one of the tables.

"The supplies were dropped by a young Asian and a pretty girl. There was another girl with them too, one with a weapon like that." The woman answered nodding towards Daryl's crossbow causing his heart rate to spike at the mention of Y/N. Was she okay? Why did this lady have their supplies, something must have happened.

"What happened? Were they attacked?" Daryl quickly questioned taking a step towards the woman and Rick.

"They were taken." Shit.

"Taken? By who?" Rick asked and Daryl could tell he was starting to silently panic as well.

"By the same son of a bitch who shot me." The woman answered.

"Hey, these are our people. You tell us what happened now!" Rick shouted, grabbing her bullet wound on her thigh causing the woman to quickly stand up.

"Don't you ever touch me again!" She snapped as Daryl aimed his crossbow at her.

"Ya better start talkin' or you're gonna have a much bigger problem than a gunshot wound." Daryl threated, taking a step towards her.

"Find them yourself." She responded. Daryl didn't care that she was a woman, he was going to hurt her if she didn't start talking. Y/N was taken, Glenn and Maggie were taken. They could be dead right now for all he knew.

"Hey, shh, shh, shh. Put it down." Rick said calmly as he gently grabbed the end of Daryl's crossbow and he sighed, lowering the weapon as he took a few steps back and began to pace nervously as Rick continued talking. "You came here for a reason."

"There's a town. Woodbury. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there." She finally answered. A town? An actual town is still standing and not overrun by walkers?

"A whole town?" Rick questioned, clearly thinking the same thing as Daryl.

"It's run by this guy who calls himself the Governor. Pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type."

"They got muscle?" Daryl asked, managing to calm his anger down enough to actually talk to the woman without wanting to shoot her.

"Paramilitary wannabes. They have armed sentries on every wall." She replied and that was not the answer any of them were hoping for. 

"How'd you know how to get here?" Rick asked, taking a step towards her.

"They mentioned a prison, said which direction it was in, that it was a straight shot." The woman simply answered.

"This is Hershel. Father of one of the girls who were taken. He'll take care of that." Rick said after a few seconds of silence before him and Daryl walked off.

-

The fighting and yelling between Merle and Glenn went on forever until suddenly it just stopped. That was when you started to panic, but you heard Glenn groan and cough a few times so at least he was alive.

After a couple minutes of complete silence the metal door in your room opened as a man walked in and closed the door behind him. He didn't say anything for a few seconds as he walked towards the table in front of you and Maggie before he pulled a knife out from his belt and began walking towards you.

You glanced over at Maggie who was staring at the man with scared eyes as you looked back towards the stranger who was now behind you. Suddenly the restraints around your arms were cut off as you moved your hands into your lap and pulled the remaining ducktape off and you noticed Maggie do the same.

"May I?" The man asked finally breaking the silence and you looked over at him realising he was asking permission to sit down on the chair on the otherside of the table. What the hell was this guys plan? He didn't seem like he was going to torture you for information like what Merle tried to do with Glenn. "Thank you." He said, sitting down even though neither of you said anything.

"We'll take you back to your people, explain this was all just a misunderstanding. You tell us where they are and we'll drive you there." The man said and you rolled your eyes, did he really believe the two of you were that stupid?

"We want to talk to Glenn." Maggie replied and you nodded, remaining silent for the time being as you slowly dug your hand into your pocket. You had to stop yourself from smiling when you felt your small pocket knife in your jeans, you always kept that knife in your pocket for emergencies, but you never figured it would come in handy for something like this. How'd this man not find the knife though? Your gun and bow were gone, so surely they would have searched for other weapons... Unless Merle left it on purpose? That was possible.

"I can't allow that. Your people are dangerous. Handcuffed my man to a roof, forced him to amputate his own hand." The man informed.

"He wasn't your man back then. He was with another group and they went back for him!" You responded, a little louder than you expected, but you couldn't help it. This man was clearly in charge around here which meant he's the one who's controlling Merle, Merle wouldn't do this. He could be an absolute jackass, yes, but he wouldn't do this.

"Just tell us where your people are and we'll bring them here. You'll be safe, I promise." The man said, clearly getting annoyed already, but neither of you said anything. "No? Fine. Let's try something else. Stand up, please." He ordered and Maggie glanced over at you, not knowing what to do but you just crossed your arms over your chest as you glared at the man. You weren't his puppet, you weren't gonna do what he said just because he asked nicely. "I said, stand up." He repeated, his tone getting harsher as he leant towards you over the table.

"Fuck you." You muttered and after you said it you instantly regretted it, but it was too late to take it back and before you knew it the man was standing in front of you, his knife pressed against your throat.

"Don't!" Maggie shouted, but the man wasn't listening, his attention completely focused on you. You stared right back at him, not breaking eye contact as you pulled your pocket knife out, swinging it at his face. But he quickly ducked backwards just in time as the blade brushed against his skin, leaving a thin cut along his cheek that began bleeding. But, before you could try stand up and fight him, he grabbed your arm slamming it against the side of the table forcing you to drop your knife and you knew right then and there that it was over. You just wasted your only chance of getting out of here.

"You little bitch!" The man shouted as he punched you right in the face and suddenly you could taste blood in your mouth and you knew he had busted the side of your lip. Perfect.

"Stand up!" He shouted and you sighed before following his order and Maggie did the same. "Take your shirts off." He added once the two of you were standing and you froze. Did he just say what I think he said?

"No." Maggie answered and you had to give her credit for managing to keep her voice so calm and stern.

"Take off your shirts or I'll bring Glenn's hand in here." He replied, leaning back on his chair and you didn't have a choice, you weren't going to let him hurt Glenn anymore than he probably already was. Without saying another word the two of you took your singlets off, dropping them onto the floor. "Go on." He nodded looking down at both of your bras and you turned to Maggie who looked about as scared as you were right now. But she nodded at you as you both quickly took your bras off before trying to cover your breasts with your arms and hands.

You glared at the man as his eyes wondered over Maggie's body before he began admiring you and you felt like you were going to be sick. This was not happening. This was not happening, right now.

You watched as the man stood up and began walking around the table towards Maggie. He tossed her chair out of the way before reaching up to grab her hair, but you couldn't watch any longer.

"Don't you touch her!" You shouted, not moving your arms and hands from your chest as you stared at the man in anger. He turned towards you in amusement before walking up behind you and your body tensed feeling his breath against your neck.

"So you gonna talk?" He questioned, grabbing the back of your neck as he pushed you down against the table. You were literally bent over the table as he stood behind you, his hand still around the back of your neck, holding you down.

"Do whatever you're gonna do, but leave Maggie and Glenn alone." You muttered and you heard the man chuckle before his fingers brushed the hair out of your face. The mans hands tracing your bare body, down to your jeans and you closed your eyes, not wanting to see whatever came next as you tried to think of something else, anything else.

You could hear Maggie sobbing quietly obviously watching the whole thing unfold as the man pressed himself against you, your entire body shaking in fear as his hands slowly worked their way down to the buckle of your belt.

"You sure you don't wanna tell me where your people are?" He whispered in your ear and you had to bite your bottom lip to stop yourself from letting out a sob as you squeezed your eyes shut, your head still pressed against the table. You could feel him hard against you as he began to unbuckle your belt and suddenly his cold hands were making their way down your waist line. You couldn't tell him, who knew how many people this man had, they could try attack and take the prison from us. You weren't going to let that happen.

Suddenly the sound of another belt unbuckling filled the air and you knew what was about to happen next as you heard the man's pants fall to the floor.

"If you struggle against me or try anything I won't hesitate to bring Glenn's hand in here." The man whispered, but clearly loud enough for Maggie to hear as she tried to muffle her sobs, but you couldn't see her. Your head was turned in the other direction still pressed against the table as he began pulling your jeans down just enough to expose you ass and suddenly you could feel him pressing himself against you through his underwear, the only layer of clothing between the two of you.

He stayed like that for a while, pressed up against you as he held you bent over the table in front of him. You could feel your entire body trembling as tears filled your eyes, but you didn't let them spill, it would only make him happy.

"Stubborn little bitch aren't you? Fine." The man said after a few seconds as he pulled your jeans back up and pushed himself off you before fixing his own jeans and walking away. You didn't dare move until you heard the sound of the door opening and then closing, knowing he had left the room.

"Y/N?" Maggie's trembling voice called as she took a few steps towards you, her hand grabbing your shoulder gently causing you to flinch at the unexpected contact and she quickly pulled her hand away.

Slowly you pushed yourself off the table, fixing your belt before covering your chest with your arms and hands as you looked over at Maggie who was doing the same thing. But, before you could say anything to her the door opened again, but this time the man wasn't alone as he walked through the door followed by another man and Merle. This couldn't be good. 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

"You guys wanted to talk to Glenn. Let's go." The leader said walking over to the two of you, but your teary eyes were locked with Merle's as he stared at you in shock.

He noticed the blood down the side of your face from where he had hit you with his gun and your cut and bruised lip which wasn't there earlier and your shirtless body. You thought you could see a glimmer of regret and guilt flash across his eyes, but before you could think much of it the leader suddenly grabbed yours and Maggie's arms, pulling you towards the door. Neither of you wanted to follow him, but you didn't have a choice if you wanted to keep your arms and hands covering your exposed body, so you walked with him as Merle and the other man walked out first, leading you towards another room.

"Drop it." Merle shouted as the leader pushed you and Maggie into the room, but not releasing his grip on either of you. You spotted Glenn in the middle of the room, holding up a piece of wood as a weapon, but when his eyes spotted the two of you he froze, dropping the piece of wood. He was covered in blood and bruises and you knew it was because of Merle.

"We're through with games. Now, one of you is gonna give up your camp." The leader said as he pulled out a gun and pressed it against your temple. You could feel your body shaking as you tried to act strong and you could see Merle watching on from the left, but you doubted he would do anything. He reported to this leader guy and did whatever he said, he wasn't the same Merle you used to know. Suddenly, the leader lowered the gun from your face as he marched over to Glenn, aiming the gun at his head.

"The prison." Maggie quickly said and you sighed, but you didn't have the heart to blame her for giving in. If it was Daryl in Glenn's spot right now you would have done the exact same thing.

"That place is overrun, how many of you are there?" The leader asked, not taking his eyes off Glenn as he held the gun at the mans face.

"10. We have 10 now." Maggie replied, her voice shaky as she fought back tears.

"Whole prison of biters? Huh?" The leader questioned turning around to look at you and Maggie as he walked over to the two of you before pushing you both towards Glenn. Maggie immediately hugged Glenn as you stood off to the side. You turned around just in time as Merle stared at you for a few seconds, dropping a black shirt on the ground before following the two other men out the room and locking it behind himself. 

You stayed where you were for a few seconds, frozen to the spot. It was like the your brain was playing the past events in that other room on repeat through your mind because that was all you could think about.

You could hear Maggie crying into Glenn to your right and you forced yourself to move as you walked over to the shirt on the ground and quickly put it on. It was a bit big for you, but it covered your body and that was all you wanted.

You turned back around to find Maggie putting on Glenn's shirt as the man looked over at you with teary eyes before pulling you into a gentle hug as well. How the hell were you guys gonna get out of this?

-

After a few minutes the three of you sat down against the metal wall, you sat a bit further away from the couple, giving them some space. You pulled your knees to your chest and rested your head on top as you tried to forget about everything that just happened and the fact that Merle was alive and here.

"Maggie. Did he-" Glenn began to ask, but Maggie cut him off.

"No. He barely touched me. Y/N stopped him." Maggie replied, her voice thick with emotion as you listened to the two of them talk. "All this time, running from walkers... You forget what people do, have always done. Look at what they did to you."

"Doesn't matter. As long as he didn't-" Glenn tried to respond.

"No, not to me." Maggie replied, basically whispering the last part, but you heard it and you felt Glenn's eyes suddenly on you, but you didn't lift your head from on top of your knees. You didn't want to see the look of pity or sadness or anything on his face. You just needed to think of a way out of here.

"Hey." Glenn said after a few minutes of silence and you lifted your head to find him walking towards the dead walker on the ground that Merle must have used against him... It clearly didn't end well for the walker.

You were about to ask what Glenn was doing when he began pulling the walkers arm off and suddenly it clicked. He was going to use the bones as weapons. That's genius.

-

The three of you stood by the door for nearly 10 minutes, the sharp bones in your hands ready to take out whoever came through the door and you hoped like hell it wouldn't be Merle. You wouldn't be able to attack Merle, even after everything he had done.

As if on queue the metal door opened and you quickly attacked the first man while Glenn and Maggie attacked the other man.

Everything happened so quickly, you barely realised what you were doing when you stabbed the bone through the mans neck before you grabbed his gun. You quickly turned around to find Merle on the ground with his knife hand pressed against Glenn's throat, Maggie standing to the side with wide eyes.

"Merle. Don't make me do this... Please." You said your voice shaky with emotion as you aimed the gun at your former friend. But he shook his head as the sound of more guns being loaded filled the air and you knew you were surrounded as you dropped the weapon. Shit.

The men behind you with guns walked over to the three of you, grabbing you and pushing you into another room as they forced you onto your knees and you knew what was about to happen. Was Merle really going to let these men kill you?

"Glad we could catch up." Merle suddenly said and you looked up at him, but he refused to look at you as he focused on Maggie and Glenn.

"Just keep looking at me." You heard Glenn say from beside Maggie, but before you could look over at the two of them a bag was suddenly thrown over your head and you couldn't see a thing.

"On your feet, move." One of the men ordered and within a second someone was pulling you up from the ground roughly and began pushing you forwards. You couldn't see anything, but you could hear Maggie and Glenn struggling behind you, so at least you were all still together.

A second later you heard the sound of metal hitting the ground before something exploded by your feet and the person grabbing you fell to the ground taking you with him. What the hell was happening? You quickly pulled the canvas bag off your head, but everything was smoky. You couldn't see anything when suddenly a pair of hands grabbed your shoulders and you looked up to find Daryl crouched down in front of you. Neither of you had time to say anything before he quickly pulled you to your feet as Rick and Oscar grabbed Glenn and Maggie and you all began running out the building and down the street.

"Inside, quick!" Rick whispered, opening a door to a random building as you quickly ducked inside. Daryl gently sat you down on the ground as Glenn and Maggie sat down a few metres away while the others scanned the room, making sure nobody was in here.

"Y/N?" Daryl called softly as he crouched down in front of you, his hands gently cupping your cheeks as he took in the blood down the side of your face and your busted up lip. "Talk to me, what happened? Y/N?" Daryl asked, but you couldn't speak, still trying to process what actually just happened. Merle was alive. He was here. He let the leader hurt you, he let the leader do what he did to you, but Merle left your knife in you pocket and gave you a shirt... It didn't make any sense.

"I'm okay." You eventually said looking into Daryl's worried eyes.

"Ya ain't." Daryl muttered, scanning your body for any more injuries, noticing your black shirt which definitely wasn't yours, but before he could say anything Glenn began talking.

"Daryl, this was Merle. He did this." Glenn stated and Daryl stared at you with a questioning look as you gave him a sad nod.

"Ya saw him?" Daryl questioned, looking over at Maggie and Glenn, but not taking his hand off your shoulder.

"Face to face. Threw a walker at me. He tried to execute us." Glenn responded and you could tell Daryl was trying to process everything he was hearing right now... you were still trying to process everything too.

"S-So my brother's this Governor?" Daryl questioned. Governor? That must be the leader.

"No, it's somebody else. Your brother's his lieutenant or something." Maggie answered.

"The Governor is controlling him. Merle isn't the same, he wouldn't do this." You tried to say, your voice breaking at the end as the memory of what Merle let the Governor do to you and Maggie flashed through your mind.

"Did he do this?" Daryl asked motioning towards your face and you shook your head.

"It was the Governor." You simply answered, even though the cut on your forehead was from Merle's gun.

"Rick, I'm sorry. We told him where the prison was. We couldn't hold out." You heard Glenn say as Daryl bushed his finger gently over your bruised and split lip, his face a mixture of guilt and anger.

"Don't. No need to apologise. We have to get back. Can you walk? We got a car a few miles out." Rick replied and you watched as Glenn nodded before Rick and Maggie helped him as Daryl quickly stood up walking over to them.

"Hey, if Merle's around, I need to see him." Daryl quickly said as Oscar took Ricks place to help Glenn as Rick turned around to Daryl.

"Not now. We're in hostile territory." Rick responded and you stood up, walking over to the two men. You wanted to get the hell out of this town, but you didn't want to leave Merle, leaving him here was not an option.

"He's my brother. I ain't-" Daryl tried to argue, his voice unsure and slightly panicked and you knew there was no way Daryl would leave without Merle and neither were you.

"Look at what he did! Look, we gotta get out of here now."

"Maybe I can talk to him. Maybe I can work somethin' out." Daryl said desperately, but Rick shook his head.

"We can't leave him." You added, looking at Rick as he gave you a sympathetic look.

"No, no, no. You guys aren't thinking straight. Glenn can barely walk and you're hurt. How are we gonna make it out if we get overrun by walkers and this Governor catches up to us? I need you. I need both of you. Are you with me?" Rick questioned glancing between the two of you.

"Yeah." Daryl finally said and you nodded, before Rick began making a plan to get out of here. Everyone was busy listening to Rick as Daryl grabbed your hand and you looked up at him with a nod, knowing what he was thinking. He was going to try find Merle and there was no way you were letting him do that alone.

"Y/N, take this." Rick suddenly said handing you a small handgun as Daryl began grabbing smoke grenades from the bag. "On three. Stay tight. One. Two. Three." Rick said, opening the door as Daryl threw the smoke grenades outside and you all rushed out the building.

You barely made it a few metres outside before gunfire erupted, there were people crouched down behind bench chairs and garbage bins on the other side of the street firing at you as you stuck close to Daryl as you returned the fire.

"In here!" You shouted, firing off a few more bullets before leading the group into a small gap between buildings.

"How many?" Rick questioned as you contined firing off shots around the corner before quickly ducking behind the wall as they fired back.

"Don't matter. There's gonna be more of 'em. We need to move." Daryl responded, reloading his rifle as you dropped down to a crouch beside him and began going through the bag of weapons they had bought.

"Any grenades left?" Rick questioned and you nodded, pulling a few out. "Get them ready. We gotta gun it to the wall."

"You guys go on ahead. Y/N and I will lay down some cover fire." Daryl said handing you a spare clip for your gun as you quickly reloaded.

"No, we gotta stay together." Maggie tried to say, but you shook your head.

"Too dangerous, we gotta distract them. We'll be right behind you guys." You said looking up at Maggie before turning to Rick who nodded reluctantly as Daryl began throwing out more smoke grenades as you all ran.

The others ran towards the fence, but you and Daryl quickly ducked down behind a bench side by side as you fired at the people across the road. Where was Merle? You needed to get to him and get the hell out of here.

The two of you continued firing for a few minutes, completely focused on the men across the road when suddenly you heard the familiar sound of guns being cocked behind you as you cursed under your breath.

"Turn around slowly." Someone ordered and you glanced over at Daryl who gave you a soft nod and you both turned around to find four men standing behind you with their guns raised.

"Drop your weapons or else I will shoot the pretty girl first." One of the men threatened, gripping his gun tighter as Daryl quickly dropped his gun and began taking his crossbow off his shoulder and you dropped your gun as well.

"Where's Merle?" Daryl questioned and the men just grinned as they pulled out two canvas bags. Again, really?

"Don't worry, you guys will see him soon." The same man replied as he covered both of your faces with the bags and began pulling you to your feet.

-

  
*** A few hours later ***

"And you let them in. You lied, betrayed us all!" A familiar voice shouted and your blood ran cold when you realised it was the Governor. But you didn't have much time to dwell over it because you were being pushed forwards and the sound of a crowd yelling filled the air. What the hell is going on?

"These are two of the terrorists. Merle's own brother! And one of his friends!" The Governor shouted and suddenly the bag was removed from your face and you were shoved forward, nearly falling over as Daryl grabbed your shoulders, stopping you from hitting the ground.

You looked up at Daryl who was staring at someone in front of him and you followed his line of sight and found Merle, staring at the two of you in shock. You quickly glanced around realising you were surrounded by people all standing around you in a large circle. Seriously, what the hell is going on?

"What should we do with them, huh?" The Governor shouted pointing to the three of you and suddenly the crowd erupted.

"Kill them! Kill them!" They all yelled and you knew whatever the Governor was planning, that it wasn't good, especially if Merle was here too. You looked over at the brothers, in panic and you could tell they were both panicking as well.

"Let them go. He's my friend!" A blonde woman suddenly shouted before a man quickly grabbed her stopping her from getting any closer to the Governor.

"I asked you where your loyalties lie. You said here. Well, prove it to us all. Brother against brother. Friend against friend. Winner goes free. Fight to the death." The Governor shouted and the crowd of people around you all began to cheer. Fight to the death? He wants us to kill each other? No, this couldn't be happening.

You looked over at Daryl who was already looking at you with almost scared eyes and it made your heart sink, he was always the brave one out of the two of you and seeing him like this just made you more terrified.

"Y'all know me. I'm gonna do whatever I got to do to prove." Merle began to shout as he circled around you and Daryl before punching Daryl in the stomach causing him to fall to the ground.

"Daryl!" You screamed, dropping to your knees besides him.

"That my loyalty is to this town!" Merle yelled and you looked over your shoulder at the older Dixon as he slammed his foot into your ribcage sending you backwards a few metres onto the ground. You heard Daryl shout your name amongst the crowd cheering, but right now the only thing you were focused on was Merle storming towards you, his hand balled into a fist as he punched you in the stomach when you tried to stand up.

"This isn't you Merle, I know it isn't." You groaned, forcing yourself onto your hands and knees when you noticed people with walkers attached to snare poles walking towards you. This just gets better and better, you thought to yourself as Merle grabbed you by the collar of your shirt, but before he could do anything Daryl suddenly grabbed him, pulling him off of you. You hit the ground with a thud, Merle no longer holding you up and you watched in panic as Merle pined Daryl on his back beside you, both men holding each others throat.

"Ya really think this asshole's gonna let ya go?" Daryl gasped, trying to push his brother off of him with no luck.

"Just follow my lead, little brother. We're getting out of this, right now!" Merle suddenly shouted pulling the younger Dixon to his feet before Daryl quickly grabbed your hand, helping you up as you all stood back to back while the Governors men started pushing the walkers towards you.

The three of you began punching and kicking the walkers away and you wished more than ever that you had your spare knife still in your pocket. You kicked one of the walkers away, just as a bullet pierced through its skull and that's when the gunfire started, along with more smoke grenades and you sighed with relief.

"Merle, Y/N, come on." Daryl shouted above all the yelling and gunfire as your eyes caught a glimpse of your crossbow on the ground amongst all the smoke and you ran for it. You heard both Dixons shout your name as you grabbed your bow off the ground before turning around to find Merle punching another guy holding Daryl's crossbow as Daryl ran up behind him, grabbing his own crossbow that dropped to the ground before grabbing your hand.

"Let's go!" Merle shouted running behind you and Daryl as Rick shouted for your attention behind a skip bin where you saw him and Maggie before you all began to run.

You tried to keep up with everyone, but your stomach and ribs were killing you from when Merle had kicked and punched you and it was getting harder to breath the more you ran.

"Guys, wait up." Daryl shouted as he slowed down, holding his hand out for you noticing you struggling to keep up. You took it, giving him a nod to try tell him you were okay, but he clearly saw straight though your lie.

"They're all at the arena. This way." Merle's voice shouted as you and Daryl caught up to them.

"You're not going anywhere with us." Rick responded and it was probably a good thing that you were out of breath because otherwise you might have argued with that.

"You really want to do this now?" Merle shot back as he began smashing a hole through the tin fence and within seconds he managed to make a big enough gap for you guys to escape through.

"Rick, come on. We've got to go." Daryl called, helping you through the gap before turning back to help Rick and Maggie.

"A little help would be nice!" Merle yelled and you quickly turned away from the others to find Merle bashing a walkers brain on the ground as more walkers wandered towards you from the road. You quickly raised your crossbow taking out the closest walker before you began reloading the next bolt.

"We ain't got time for this. Let's go." Merle shouted turning towards the rest of you before running off towards the woods and you could see how hesitant Maggie and Rick were. But you couldn't really blame them, look what Merle did to Glenn.

-

You all had been walking for nearly an hour by the time the sun began to rise and you hoped like hell that the car they had parked along the road was nearby. Merle hadn't shut up for more than five minutes, but you all had managed to zone him for the most part, just focusing on getting away from Woodbury and out of danger.

"Glenn!" Rick shouted softly and you looked up, spotting the familiar light green car parked on the side of the road as you walked beside Daryl and Merle through the woods behind Rick and Maggie.

"Rick. Oh thank God." Glenn's voice suddenly responded, relief evident in his tone when you spotted him and the woman with dreadlocks, who you saw briefly back in Woodbury before she disappeared, but clearly she came back.

"Now we got a problem here. I need you to back up." Rick quickly said holding his hand out towards Glenn and you could pinpoint the exact moment Glenn and the lady spotted Merle as they both raised their weapons towards the older Dixon. You quickly took a step to the left, standing between Merle and their weapons as Rick and Daryl took a few steps forward trying to calm the situation.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Glenn shouted, cocking his gun pointing it at you, but you didn't take it personally, he was trying to aim at Merle, but you couldn't let that happen.

"Hey. Hey. Hey!" Rick yelled stepping in front of the woman as she pulled her katana out and you would have been more shocked that she had such a weapon, but right now you had bigger things to deal with.

"Put it down! He helped us get out of there." Daryl shouted above everyone else, holding his hand out towards Glenn and Maggie who still had their guns raised.

"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you and Y/N!" Rick snapped not taking his eyes of the lady with the katana, his gun pointed at her in case she tried anything.

"Hey, we all took our licks, man." Merle responded sounding almost amused by the whole situation.

"Jackass." Daryl muttered, glancing at his brother before turning back to Glenn and Maggie.

"Hey, shut up." Merle quickly replied and you glared at the older Dixon, taking a step towards him trusting Rick and Daryl to handled the others.

"That's enough, Merle!" You ordered not backing away as he stared down at you while Rick started shouting at the sword lady.

"Get that thing out of my face!" Daryl's voice yelled and you knew he was getting angry about this whole situation, you were too, but you knew getting angry wouldn't help fix this issue.

"Man, look like you've gone native, brother." Merle teased causing Daryl to turn his attention to his brother taking a step towards him in anger as you quickly stepped between them, pressing your hand against Daryl's chest trying to ground him and keep him from getting any closer to Merle. You had seen too many fights to count between the two Dixons growing up and you had resolve most of them too. But despite everything none of their fights ever turned physical and you figured that had to do with the fact that their old man used to beat them, so the two of them just attacked each other with words rather than fists.

"No more than you hangin' out with that psycho back there." Daryl shot back pushing against you, but you held your ground pressing your hand harder against his chest causing him to look down at you as he took a deep breath.

"Oh yeah, man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that. Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea. Big time baby." Merle replied, looking past Rick towards the sword lady. Andrea? As in the Andrea who used to be part of their group? You remembered Daryl telling you about her, like how she shot him thinking he was walker back on Hershel's farm.

"What? Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn questioned and you sighed in relief as the tone of the whole argument began to lower.

"Right next to the Governor." Daryl replied, turning back to Glenn and Maggie.

"Do you know Andrea?" Rick questioned focusing his attention towards the sword woman, but she just glared at Merle, ignoring Rick completely. "Hey, do you know Andrea?"

"Yep, she does. Her and blondie spent all winter cuddling up in the forest. Mm-mmm, yeah. My Nubian queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains. Kind of ironic now that I think about it." Merle said and you knew he was trying to piss the woman off on purpose.

"Shut up, bro." Daryl muttered glaring back at Merle.

"Hey, man, we snagged them out of the woods. Andrea was close to dying." Merle began to explain before Maggie started talking.

"Is that why she's with him?" Maggie questioned and Merle nodded.

"So what are you gonna do now, Sheriff, huh? Surrounded by a bunch of liars, thugs and cowards." Merle teased.

"Shut up!" Rick shouted over his shoulder, not wanting to take his eyes off the sword woman.

"Oh man, look at this. Pathetic. All these guns and no bullets in them." Merle continued, but you shook your head getting sick of all the arguing.

"Merle, shut up!" You and Daryl both yelled, which only made Merle more agitated as he took a step towards you and Daryl, glaring at you.

"Shut up yourselves! Bunch of pussies you roll-" Merle began to shout before Rick slammed the butt of his gun against Merle's head and he dropped to the ground, unconscious. You quickly looked over at Daryl unsure if he was going to go off at Rick, but he almost looked relived that Merle was finally quiet and you sighed with relief.

"Asshole." Glenn muttered before him and Maggie began walking back to the car. How the hell were you going to deal with this? Merle clearly wasn't a favourite around here. 

 

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

 

"It won't work." Rick stated shaking his head as you, Daryl, Rick, Maggie and Glenn all stood on the road, deciding what to do about Merle, while the lady with the sword stayed by the car.

"It's gotta." Daryl responded from beside you and you nodded in agreement, there was no debate about this. It's Merle, you weren't gonna just leave him here.

"It'll stir things up." Rick argued and you sighed pinching the bridge of your nose trying to dull your headache which you weren't sure was from all the arguing or being hit in the head so many times in the past 24 hours.

"Look, the Governor is probably on the way to the prison right now. Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle." Daryl tried to reason, but he would have been better off talking to a brick wall because there was no way Rick and Glenn would let Merle stay.

"Do you really want him sleeping in the same cellblock as Carol or Beth?" Glenn suddenly questioned staring at Daryl.

"He ain't a rapist." You responded, Merle might be an asshole, but he would never do that.

"Well, his buddy is. You know that more than anyone!" Glenn snapped, looking over at you and you froze, shocked that he would say that in front of the others, why would he say that? You didn't want anyone knowing about what happened in that room other than Maggie.

You looked down at the ground feeling Daryl's head snap around to you once he realised what Glenn said and you could feel Rick looking at you as well before he started talking again.

"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." He said looking away from you as he turned to Daryl.

"So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai with us?" Daryl questioned pointing to the woman who was still leaning against the car watching you guys.

"She's not coming back." Rick answered, glancing over at her before back to the rest of you.

"She's not in a state to be on her own. She did bring you guys to us." Maggie spoke up, but Rick shook his head.

"Then ditched us." Rick muttered as you looked over at the woman, spotting Merle still in the woods, leaning against a tree as he waited for you guys to finish.

"That's right. We don't know who she is. But Merle, Merle's blood." Daryl said, fixing the strap of his crossbow as he looked around at the rest of the group in front of him.

"No, Merle is your blood. My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison." Glenn replied sternly and you had to bite your lip, knowing if you started talking then another argument would start.

"And you guys are part of that family too. But he's not." Rick added, looking between you and Daryl.

"Man, y'all don't know." Daryl muttered throwing his hands in the air in defeat as he looked over at you with pleading eyes and you knew what he was thinking and gave him a nod, indicating that you were gonna follow him. Daryl wasn't going to leave Merle, even if meant leaving the prison, leaving his family and friends. "Fine. We'll fend for ourselves."

"That's not what I was saying." Glenn replied.

"No him, no us." Daryl simply stated as you grabbed his hand, lacing your fingers together.

"Daryl, Y/N, you don't have to do that." Maggie said softly realising that the two of you were serious about this.

"It was always just the three of us before this." Daryl explained with a shrug as the others stared at you in shock, not knowing what to say.

"Are you serious? You're just gonna leave like that?" Glenn questioned in disbelief, his eyes scanning between the two of you.

"Y/N needs to see Hershel, not wandering out in the woods. She's hurt." Rick suddenly said motioning towards you as Daryl looked over at you, torn with what to do, but you shook your head.

"I'm fine." You stated, but Daryl clearly didn't believe you as he stared at you for a few more seconds, contemplating what to do. He didn't want you out here without medical attention, but he didn't want to leave Merle either and you knew that as you squeezed his hand gently before he nodded.

"Say goodbye to your Pop for me." Daryl finally said, looking at Maggie before the two of you began walking off.

"Daryl, are you serious?" You heard Glenn question, but neither of you looked back as you began walking towards the car before Rick ran over to the two of you.

"Hey. Hey. There's gotta be another way." Rick said, walking alongside Daryl.

"Don't ask me to leave him. I already did that once." Daryl replied, referring to the whole rooftop incident back in Atlanta that you heard all about.

"We started something last night. You realise that?" Rick questioned as Daryl let go of your hand to open up the back of the car as he began grabbing his backpack.

"No him, no us. That's all I can say." Daryl replied as he grabbed his bag out the car, slinging it over his shoulders. "Take care of yourself. Take care of lil ass-kicker. Carl. He's one tough kid." Daryl said softly, staring at Rick for a few seconds before he began walking off towards Merle in the woods.

"I'm sorry. I can't lose either of them again. Give them a few days, I will sort something out. You guys mean too much to Daryl for him to just walk away." You said softly, giving Rick a sympathetic look and he nodded slightly before you turned around, walking after Daryl and Merle further into the woods.

-

Merle and Daryl had been bickering and talking nonsense for the past few hours as you walked through woods trying to find somewhere to crash for the night. You hadn't said anything since you left Rick and the others, you didn't have anything to say. You weren't happy about leaving the prison and your new family, but you weren't going to let Daryl leave without you again. You made that mistake once before all of this started and regretted it ever since, you weren't going to let it happen again.

You were glad that Merle was back to his somewhat normal self, he still wasn't the same man you knew all those years ago. He was more hot tempered and tried picking fights more often than not, but you supposed the whole world turning to shit changes people.

The three of you continued walking for another 10 or so minutes, the brothers walking in front of you as they argued about something stupid, but you weren't listening. All you could think about was what the Governor did and the sharp pain that spiked in your ribs whenever you took a step. You knew your ribs weren't broken, but man did it feel like it. At worse you had bruised or cracked a rib, which was nothing serious, it just meant it would hurt like hell for the next few months until it healed itself.

"Merle, slow down a bit." Daryl suddenly called slowing his pace as he turned around to you, his eyes full of worry as you finally caught up to him. He stopped walking and grabbed your shoulders gently, forcing you to look at him. You had been avoiding his eyes and any form of conversation because you knew he would want to ask about your shirt which clearly wasn't yours and ask what Glenn meant when he said that _'you should know it more than anyone'_ when he was referring to the Governor being a rapist and you didn't want to have that conversation.

"You're hurt. We should stop for a few minutes." Daryl said, brushing a stand of your hair out your face so he could see you properly, but you shook your head looking down at the ground.

"I'm fine, let's keep going." You replied softly, not wanting to argue with him as you met his worried gaze.

"What's goin' on? Too tired Sugar? Need ya beauty rest?" Merle teased, walking back over to the two of you with grin.

"Shut up, Merle. She's hurt because of ya!" Daryl snapped, anger flashing across his eyes as he glared at his older brother who just laughed with amusement. "Do ya think this is funny?"

"Would you two just stop arguing for five minutes! Let's go, it's gonna be dark soon." You said throwing your arms in the air in frustration causing you to wince slightly at the pain it caused your ribs.

"Let me see." Daryl suddenly said, his tone now soft and gentle as both Dixon brothers looked at you in slight worry.

"I said, I'm fine." You replied, your tone coming out harsher than intended, but you just wanted to keep going and find a place to crash for the night.

"Y/N, just show me." Daryl said again and you sighed looking up into his crystal blue eyes, knowing he wouldn't let this go. You nodded reluctantly, slowly lifting your shirt to expose your stomach. You hadn't seen what your stomach looked like after the fight with Merle in the arena, but by the shocked expression both the Dixon's had you knew it wasn't good. You looked down at your stomach to find a mixture of purple and blue bruises covering the left side of your rib cage, along with a few other bruises along your lower stomach.

"Shit, I didn't think I hit ya that hard." Merle stated staring at the bruises before you dropped your shirt back down covering your body.

"Why'd ya even hurt her in the first place?" Daryl questioned, anger rising in his tone as he looked over at Merle.

"I had to make it believable back in the arena, I couldn't pull my punches when the Governor was watching." Merle defended raising his hands in surrender as he looked between you and Daryl.

"Ya should've done it to me, not her!" Daryl muttered as you put your hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down.

"I knew she could take it. She has more balls than you and me, little brother." Merle replied and you rolled your eyes. "There's a small cabin up ahead, you can walk that far right?" Merle asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he looked over at you with a grin before walking off in the direction of the cabin. You knew he sort of felt guilty and worried by the look on his face when he saw the bruises, but he would never admit it.

"I've had worse Dixon, you know that. I'm fine." You said glancing over at Merle walking off in the distance before turning to look at Daryl who sighed, thinking of all the times he found you with bruises over your body from Frank when you were growing up.

"Doesn't make it right." Daryl said softly, his southern drawl thick as he looked down at you with worried eyes. You gave him a soft smile grabbing his hand as the two of you followed the direction Merle walked until you found the cabin he was talking about. By the time the two of you got there, Merle had cleared it of the two walkers inside. It was only a small cabin but was in pretty good condition compared to most places these days.

There were two couches in front of a small fireplace and small kitchen area with a wooden table and a few chairs around it. The walls were covered with different photos and trophy animal heads on planks of wood and it was clear the person who used to live here was a hunter which meant he might have some weapons or ammo here.

While Daryl and Merle worked on securing the cabin for the night and starting a fire you began checking the cabin. It was just all one big room the kitchen and lounge room all connected minus the one door to the right which you discovered was a small bedroom and bathroom.

You could hear Daryl and Merle arguing about the best way to start the fire and you laughed softly to yourself at how familiar the sound of the brothers bickering was, reminding you of the old times.

You walked into the bedroom slowly making your way around the room smiling at the family photographs on the bedside table before your eyes landed on something leaning against the side of the bed. You walked around the bed unable to stop yourself from smiling when you spotted the lever action hunting rifle as you picked it up and began inspecting the gun. It seemed to be in good condition, no kinks or dents in the barrel and the lever worked smoothly as you checked the chamber noticing there weren't any bullets.

You slung the gun strap over your other shoulder, so it didn't hit your crossbow as you began opening up random draws in the bedside table. You knew there had to be bullets somewhere and you were right as you pulled open the third draw finding a half empty packet of rounds as you began putting them in the pockets of your jeans for easy access.

"Found a hunting rifle." You stated walking out the bedroom to find Merle spread out over one of the couches as Daryl crouched down in front of the fireplace adding more sticks to the slow burning flames.

"Do you even know how to shoot one of those lever action rifles?" Merle questioned a hint of a grin on his face, knowing full well that you could shoot the gun, but wanting to tease you anyway. You didn't answer the older Dixon as you leant the rifle and your crossbow against the other couch as you sat down gingerly, every slight movement sending shock waves of pain through your ribs.

"Here, eat this. Only found a few of 'em in the cupboard." Daryl suddenly said standing up as he turned around and handed you some sort of chocolate bar that obviously had enough preservatives in it to last years before expiring. You took the bar peeling off the wrapper before snapping it in half and holding it out for Daryl who shook his head.

"You need to eat too." You simply said, still holding the bar out as you stared at Daryl until he sighed taking half of the bar before sitting down besides you.

None of you talked for the next few minutes, all eating  and watching the flames of the fire in front of you as the sun disappeared outside.

"So, it only took the world turning to shit before the two of ya finally got together." Merle suddenly said with a chuckle, not taking his eyes off the fire. "When I saw you with Glenn and that other girl, I thought I was seeing things." Merle admitted, but you shook your head.

"Yet you still took us back to the Governor. Thanks for that by the way." You responded sarcastically, not bothering to look at Merle as you spoke.

"What happened back at Woodbury?" Daryl asked, breaking the silence after a few minutes and you could feel him looking over at you as you stared at the fire hoping he would just drop the topic. "Y/N?"

"Nothing. He put Maggie and I in a separate room, we listen to Merle beat Glenn in the other room. Then they took us to Glenn and you guys showed up." You explained in minimal detail, leaving out some pieces of information as you fiddled with your silver chain bracelet around your wrist.

Daryl clearly didn't believe you, but he didn't say anything as he wrapped his arm over your shoulders pulling you into him as you curled up besides him, resting your head on his chest. You could feel tears rising in your eyes at the memories from the past few days and how you thought Merle was actually going to let the Governor kill you and how you were never going to see Daryl again.

You closed your eyes not wanting Daryl or Merle to see your tears as Daryl shifted slightly, leaning back into the couch, his thumb tracing circles over your arm as he held you tightly. The brothers began talking about what the plan was for tomorrow, deciding to head towards Yellow Jacket Creek to hunt and find food.

"She asleep?" Merle asked after a few minutes of silence, looking over at his brother with you resting against his chest.

"Yeah." Daryl replied softly looking down at you, but you weren't asleep. Your eyes were just closed and you hadn't moved from your position against him for a while. But you weren't about to tell them that you were awake, they would probably ask questions and although you knew you couldn't avoid the topic forever, you just didn't want to talk about it.

"What happened at Woodbury? She ain't been the same since." Daryl said quietly, not wanting to wake you up. You started to feel bad, you knew you had been a bit distant, but you just didn't know what to do or how to feel, it was your own fault. If you didn't try reason with Merle back at the store you might have been able to get Maggie and Glenn out of there. Hell, you could have shot at Merle when you snuck up behind him when he had Maggie at gunpoint, but you'd never be able to do that.

"I don't know. Y/N and the other woman were tied to chairs in one room, I was in the other room interrogating Glenn. I was meant to interrogate 'em after, but the Governor said he would. I don't know what he did, but when he was done he bought 'em both into the room with Glenn and they were both naked from the waist up, no shirts on or nothin'." Merle explained and you felt Daryl tense up after hearing his brothers words.

"He didn't r-" Daryl began to ask, his voice laced with panic.

"I don't know man, you're gonna have to ask her. I gave her a shirt after the Governor left, I know it doesn't make it right, but-" Merle replied before Daryl cut him off.

"Ya right, it don't." Daryl muttered and after that neither of them spoke. You weren't sure when, but you must have fallen asleep for real because by the time you opened your eyes again the sun was seeping through the cabin windows and you could hear someone softly snoring in the background.

You looked around slowly in confusion, you weren't on the couch anymore. You looked around realising you were in the bedroom on the queen-sized bed and you smiled softly spotting Daryl asleep next to you. He was laying on his stomach, his head turned towards you with his arm wrapped around your waist. He looked so peaceful and relaxed sleeping, you didn't want to wake him up, but you really needed to go to pee.

Slowly you crawled out of bed, lifting his arm up off your body and gently placing it back down on the bed. He stirred slightly in his sleep, but didn't wake up and you sighed in relief, he needed the rest.

You walked towards the door to the bathroom, hoping that the toilet was somewhat decent otherwise you were gonna have to go for a walk outside. You opened the door quietly, not wanting to wake Daryl and you grinned spotting the toilet that looked completely normal. Finally you could pee in an actual toilet, even though you couldn't flush it was still so much better.

Once you finished you walked back into the bedroom making sure Daryl was still asleep before you made your way towards the other door that opened up into the kitchen and lounge room. Merle was fast asleep on that same couch, snoring slightly and you would have laughed at the sight, but you saw the unmistakable white power in a small plastic bag on the side of the couch. It wasn't unusual for Merle, he was mixed up with drugs when you were younger and got sent to juvie a few times for it too, but you were kinda shocked that he managed to find that shit in this day and age.

You grabbed your crossbow and new rifle from the side of the other couch and made your way towards the kitchen bench as you carefully climbed on top of it, leaning your back against the wall and resting your legs along the bench top. You figured the brothers wouldn't be asleep for much longer considering the sun was already up, so you began fiddling with your new rifle and tightening the broadheads on your crossbow bolts.

You were only waiting for about 10 minutes before Daryl walked out the bedroom, rubbing his tired eyes and you could see him scanning the couches trying to find you until he looked over towards the kitchen spotting you sitting on the bench. You gave him a soft smile as he walked over to you, placing a gentle kiss against your lips and you leaned forward deepening the kiss.

"How's ya ribs?" Daryl asked, pulling away slightly as you shrugged your shoulders.

"Sore, but they're not broken, so I'll be fine." You simply replied and Daryl nodded as he looked down at the bracelet around your wrist and you could see him smiling slightly.

"Can't believe ya still got that thing." He muttered softly, fiddling with arrow charm dangling from the silver chain.

"It was the only thing I had left of you when you and Merle left town all those years ago and then when this shit started... I honestly never thought I'd see ya again." You admitted looking down at your bracelet as Daryl fiddled it. "I will follow you anywhere Dixon, you know that... But, I think we should go back to the prison, it's safe there. I'm not saying we should leave Merle, I would never do that. Merle will be coming with us and Rick and the others are gonna have to deal with it. But, if you don't wanna go back, I won't either. I'm not losing you again Daryl, I will follow you anywhere."

Daryl didn't say anything for a few seconds and you knew he was thinking about what you just said before he shook his head. "We can't." He finally said, meeting your gaze with apologetic eyes and you nodded.

"Then we won't. Come on, lets wake him up, we need to go hunt while its daylight." You replied, climbing off the bench with the help of Daryl before you grabbed your crossbow and rifle as you followed Daryl back towards the couches. 

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

"There ain't nothin' out here but mosquitoes and ants." Daryl stated as he looked around the leafy grounds of the woods. You and Daryl had your backs turned to Merle as he took a piss by a tree, you had your crossbow in your hands and your new rifle slung over your shoulders as you scanned the woods looking for any signs of danger.

"Patience, little brother. Sooner or later, a squirrel is bound to scurry across your path." Merle's voice responded and you rolled your eyes.

"Even so, that ain't much food for the three of us." Daryl muttered, glancing across at you making sure you were okay before continuing. "We'd have better luck goin' through one of 'em houses we passed back on the turnoff."

"Is that what your new friends taught ya? Hmm? How to loot for booty?" Merle questioned, walking back over to you two and you could tell Daryl was trying to keep his expression blank, but you knew he was getting annoyed.

"We've been at it for hours. Why don't we find a stream, try to look for some fish?" You suggested, turning around to face the brothers and Daryl nodded with agreement.

"I think you're just trying to lead me back to the road. Get me over to that prison." Merle replied, crouching down as he grabbed a few leaves fiddling them and Daryl sighed leaning against the tree behind him.

"They got shelter. Food. A pot to piss in. Might not be a bad idea." Daryl suddenly said, catching you by surprise since the conversation you had this morning when he said you weren't going back.

"For you guys, maybe. Ain't gonna be no damn party for me." Merle responded, standing back up as he looked over at his younger brother.

"Everyone will get used to each other." You simply replied, looking over at Merle who shook his head.

"They're all dead. Makes no difference." Merle muttered, but you shook your head. The Governor couldn't take the prison from Rick and the others, they would have the permitter locked down and guards 24/7.

"How can ya be so sure?" Daryl asked, trying to keep his tone neutral, but you could tell he was worried.

"Right about now he's probably hosting a housewarming party where's he gonna bury what's left of your pals. Let's hook some fish. Come on." Merle said walking past the two of you as you stared him. He wasn't being serious was he? You looked over at Daryl who was matching your expression, but neither of you said anything as you followed behind Merle.

You guys walked for nearly an hour before the brothers began arguing about which direction you had been walking. Merle seemed to think you guys had been walking west, but you agreed with Daryl when he said you guys were walking south. You didn't even head west at all, if anything you had been walking south-east, but you weren't about to get in the middle of one of their arguments.

"What do you want to bet?" Merle asked, looking over his shoulder at Daryl as the two of you walked through the woods behind him, your crossbows in your hand.

"I don't want to bet nothin'. It's just a body of water. Why's everything gotta be a competition with ya?" Daryl muttered, stepping over a fallen branch on the ground before turning to make sure you climbed over it okay.

"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy, little brother. Just trying to have a little fun here. No need to get your panties all in a bundle." Merle replied with a grin, obviously getting the reaction he wanted out of Daryl.

"Ya hear that?" Daryl questioned, ignoring what his brother said completely and suddenly you could hear it. It was a baby crying. Why is there a baby out here?

"It's a baby." You responded in complete shock.

"Why don't ya just piss in my ear and tell me it's raining too? That there's the sound of a couple coons making love, sweet love. Know what I mean?" Merle replied, but you weren't listening to him anymore as you walked down towards the creek where the noise seemed to be coming from when you spotted a few people on a bridge trying to fight off a group of walkers. There was no way they would be able to kill them all alone.

"Hey! Jump!" Merle shouted, but you shook your head as you looked over at Daryl who was clearly thinking the same thing, as you both took off running back into the woods to get to the bridge. They had a baby, they needed help.

"Shoot from a distance, I don't want ya getting' anymore hurt." Daryl instructed as you reached the start of the bridge and you quickly nodded, knowing there was no time to argue before Daryl took off towards the two men who were standing on top of a trailer trying to shoot at the walkers. You had no idea where Merle was, but you didn't have time to worry about him because you could see walkers trying to break into one of the cars on the bridge and you figured that was where the baby was crying from.

You quickly slung your bow over your shoulder, grabbing your rifle as you ran towards an old beat up truck parked on the bridge. You quickly climbed into the bed of the truck, figuring you would be safe from any walkers sneaking up on you while you fired at the ones near the car.

Raising the rifle you pushed the lever forwards and backwards, loading the rifle before you lined up the first walker near the car, hovering the crosshairs of the scope over the walkers skull before squeezing the trigger. You continued doing that for a few minutes, taking down the walkers one by one as Daryl ran around with his crossbow and knife taking down the rest, while Merle just walked around watching, occasionally firing his pistol at a walker.

You knew you didn't have a lot of bullets to spare, so after you finished killing the walkers by the car you slung the rifle over your shoulder and pulled your hunting knife out your belt as you jumped off the truck, ignoring the sharp pain in your ribs as you did so.

"Merle, are you going to help or what?" You shouted glancing over at him before turning your attention towards the walkers near the two men. They were both shouting in another language which you thought was Spanish, but you couldn't understand a word they were saying so you chose to ignoring them, focusing on the walkers as you sunk your knife into their skulls.

The two men continued yelling in Spanish and it was like they thought if they shouted louder than you would understand them, but no, it was just attracting more walkers which they had no idea how to kill. You tried to ignore them as you glanced over at Daryl watching as he slammed the van door down against a walkers head, blood splattering everywhere.

You turned back around at the men who were staring at you while yelling God knows what at you, but you shook your head getting frustrated with the two of them.

"I don't know what fuck you're saying!" You shouted, slamming your knife into the last walker, groaning slightly as you pulled your knife back out before you spotted Merle half way in the families van trying to steal from them. You could see Daryl slowly walking around the van towards Merle, sending you a questioning look as if to say 'do I stop him or ignore it?' and you sighed nodding towards Merle, it wasn't right to steal from these people.

"Get out the car." Daryl suddenly said holding his crossbow up at Merle's back as his older brother scavenged through the van. You slowly made your way towards Daryl, stopping a few metres away so you were next to the two Spanish men in case they decided to try anything against Daryl.

You could see Merle slowly getting out the car as he turned around glaring at Daryl and you knew whatever was to happen next won't be good.

"Get in your car and get the hell out of here." Daryl shouted, glancing over at the two Spanish men who just stared at him in shock or confusion, you weren't sure which.

"Get in your car! Go!" You yelled, pointing towards the car as they finally moved, running towards the car and within seconds they took off, leaving the three of your standing there. Daryl with his crossbow aimed at Merle, while you stood a few metres away, gripping your crossbow tightly waiting to see how this played out.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Merle raised his hand to push the crossbow out of his face as Daryl lowered it, walking off towards the road and you followed, ignoring Merle as you caught up to Daryl.

"You did the right thing." You said softly looking over at Daryl who stared straight ahead, not bothering to reply to you. He was angry at Merle and although the brothers always used to argue when you were kids, it was never like this. Merle was more easily agitated and almost seemed like he wanted to fight, but that was probably half to do with whatever drugs were soaring through his body right now.

"The shit ya doing, pointing that thing at me?" Merle questioned, anger rising in his voice as the three of you walked off the road back into the woods.

"They were scared, Merle." You replied glancing over at the older Dixon as he caught up to the two of you, but he shook his head.

"They were rude is what they were. Rude and they owed us a token of gratitude." The man replied and you rolled your eyes, knowing he wasn't worth replying to. He was looking for an argument and he wasn't gonna get one from you.

"They didn't owe us nothin'." Daryl muttered as you continued walking through the woods and you heard Merle scoff from behind you.

"Ya helping people out of the goodness of your heart? Even though ya might die doing it? Is that something your Sheriff Rick taught ya?" Merle teased and suddenly Daryl stopped walking and you nearly walked straight into him before he took a step towards Merle.

"There was a baby!" Daryl snapped glaring at his older brother.

"Oh, otherwise you would have just left them to the biters, then?" Merle questioned harshly as he took a step towards Daryl before you grabbed his shoulder.

"Merle, shut the hell up!" You shouted pushing him backwards away from Daryl knowing full well this could turn violent and you didn't want Daryl getting hurt.

"Man, I went back for ya. Ya weren't there. I didn't cut off your hand, neither. You did that. Way before they locked ya up on that roof. You asked for it." Daryl said pointing to him with the bolt in his hand and you took a step back watching as Merle started to laugh shaking his head.

"You know... You know what's funny to me? You and Sheriff Rick are like this now." Merle began to say crossing his fingers as he held them in front of Daryl. "I bet ya a penny and a fiddle of gold that ya never told them that we were planning on robbing that camp blind."

"It didn't happen." Daryl muttered looking down at the ground clearly ashamed of what Merle just said.

"Yeah, it didn't 'cause I wasn't there to help you." Merle replied taking a step towards Daryl.

"What, like when we were kids, huh? Who left who then?" Daryl questioned and you sighed remembering when Merle had left to join the army, leaving Daryl alone with their abusive father.

"What? Is that why I lost my hand?" Merle shouted and you knew things were about to escalate quickly.

"Ya lost your hand 'cause you're a simpleminded piece of shit!" Daryl yelled in Merle's face before he turned around about to walk away before Merle grabbed the backpack over his shoulders.

"Yeah? You don't know! I-" Merle began shouting as he pulled Daryl backwards with enough force to make him make him fall to the ground, ripping the back of his shirt exposing Daryl's back which you knew was covered in scars from his father, some of which you had stitched up for him and you knew Merle didn't know about the scars. He was never around when it happened and you doubted Daryl ever told him.

"I... I didn't know he was-" Merle mumbled staring at Daryl's back in shock as you picked up Daryl's backpack from the ground.

"Yeah, he did. He did the same to Y/N and the same to you. That's why you left first." Daryl replied and you saw Merle look over at you in both shock and guilt, his eyes glancing up at the old scar on your forehead. You had told him it was from falling down the stairs at school, but was actually from when his father. You looked away from Merle, glancing down at Daryl who was already looking at you as he stood up taking the bag from you. He slung it over his shoulders before he began walking away and you followed, knowing exactly where he was going.

"I had to, man. I would have killed him otherwise. Where ya going?" Merle questioned watching the two of you walk away before Daryl turned around.

"Back where we belong." Daryl replied glancing over at Merle who seemed to be torn between what to do.

"I can't go with ya. I tried to kill that black bitch. Damn near killed the Chinese kid." Merle responded looking back and forth between you and Daryl.

"He's Korean." Daryl stated and you could tell Merle wanted to say a smartass comment, but he clearly thought better of it as he shook his head.

"Whatever. Doesn't matter, man. I just can't go with you guys." Merle said and now it was Daryl shaking his head.

"Ya know, we might be the ones walking away, but you're the one that's leavin'. Again." Daryl said grabbing your hand and pulling you with him as the two of you walked off into the woods in the direction of the prison. You walked in silence, neither of you knowing what to say after what just happened, although Merle clearly decided to follow you because you could hear his loud footsteps trailing after you.

-

"About what happened in Woodbury..." Daryl began to say, breaking the silence as you continued walking through the woods towards the prison. "Merle told me-" Daryl continued saying after you didn't respond, but this time you cut him off.

"Merle wasn't there. He doesn't know what happened." You muttered, but before Daryl had a chance to reply the sound of gunfire erupted in the distance. "Shit, that's coming from the prison." You stated, looking over at Daryl who nodded and without another word you took off running.

You ran for what felt like forever, jumping over logs, ducking under branches and weaving between trees, your ribs were aching with each step but you didn't care. Your new family was in danger, that was all that matter at that moment.

"Holy shit." You gasped as you ran out of the tree line coming face to face with the prison fences where you could see a van parked in the field and walkers coming out of it. You didn't have much time to take it all in because you spotted Rick outside the prison with his back pressed against the fence, holding two walkers back.

You quickly raised your crossbow aiming at one of the walkers and pulled the trigger just as Daryl fired his crossbow. In an instant both the walkers against Rick dropped to the ground, bolts implanted through their skulls. Suddenly Merle ran past the two of you, running at the walkers near the fence and you followed his lead, reloading your crossbow and firing again.

Within seconds the four of you took down the walkers around you and Rick nodded his thanks to you and Daryl before the four of you walked over to the fence, taking in all the walkers roaming around the open field. At least the others closed the gate that lead to the courtyard so the walkers couldn't get in.

-

"Carol! You're alive!" You shouted as the four of closed the large gate behind you after making a run for it to the courtyard. Carol, Maggie, Glenn, Beth, Hershel and the woman with the katana were all standing in the courtyard waiting for you guys.

"Thank God you guys are okay." Carol responded as she pulled you into hug before Glenn started talking.

"I thought we agreed on Merle not being here!" Glenn shouted and you quickly pulled away from Carol, unsure of how Merle or Daryl were going to react.

"We have bigger problems to deal with right now, lets go inside." Rick responded in an exhausted tone, clearly not wanting a fight as the others nodded and slowly everyone walked into the prison. To your surprise Merle didn't try argue when Rick and Daryl locked him in the room next to the cellblock so he couldn't do anything stupid or start any fights.

Daryl stayed with Merle for a few minutes, wanting to talk to his brother about something, so you went into the cellblock with the others and began moving the mattress you and Daryl had set up by the stairs back into the cell it came from, before grabbing your backpack that you had left in the prison. You walked back towards the cells finding one that nobody else was using as you threw your backpack on the lower bunk before taking the rifle off your back and laying it on the bed as well. You knew Daryl liked sleeping near the stairs on the perch because he could see everything and you liked that too, but everyone else could see you, giving you literally no privacy and after what happened at Woodbury, all you wanted was privacy.

"Hey, come let Hershel take a look at ya ribs." Daryl's deep southern voice suddenly said and you turned towards the door of your cell to find him leaning against the door frame and you nodded, knowing it wouldn't hurt to have Hershel look at it. You followed Daryl out the cell spotting Hershel leaning on the stairs talking to Rick. Noticing your presence Rick turned around as him and Hershel looked over at you and Daryl.

"Everything alright?" Rick asked, noticing the slight unsure look on your face, you knew Hershel wouldn't mind, but you still felt bad for asking.

"Yeah, was just gonna ask if Hershel could take a look at Y/N." Daryl answered for you, looking over at Hershel who nodded, grabbing his crutch as he stood up. Rick was eyeing you carefully, his eyes slightly worried. You had only known him for a few weeks, yet he already cared about you and you weren't sure if he was like this with all new group members or because you were his best friend's girlfriend.

"What do you want me to look at?" Hershel asked, looking over at you as you lifted your shirt, exposing the deep purple and blue bruises covering the entire left side of your rib cage.

The two men both looked at the bruises with pained expressions and you didn't even need to look at Daryl to know what his expression was. "How did you managed this?" Hershel questioned in complete shock.

"You don't wanna know. I'm fine though as long as nobody wants me to bend down and pick something up, because that won't be happening." You joked, scoring a soft chuckle from the three men around you before Hershel gently touched your ribs, trying to see if anything was broken. You winced slightly as he pressed against one of the bruises and Daryl grabbed your hand, not knowing what else to do as he watched Hershel examine the bruises.

"Well, I don't think any ribs are broken. But some of the bones are definitely bruised, if not cracked. I'd say for you to rest for a few weeks, but I know that probably won't happen." Hershel finally said after a few minutes and you laughed softly.

"Not when the Governor is out there." You replied pulling your shirt back down and Hershel nodded, knowing it was pointless to argue with you about this.

A few minutes later, you and Daryl walked up the stairs over to Beth and Carol who were putting Little Ass-kicker to bed, who was now named Judith apparently. The three of them informed you on everything you missed, like how Daryl found Carol deep inside the prison and how Oscar and Axel were killed by the Governors men.

"What's the plan Rick? We all know the Governor will be coming back, we can't stay here." Hershel suddenly questioned catching everyone's attention as you and Daryl leant over the rails looking down at Rick and the others in the cellblock.

"We're not leaving." Rick stated, looking around at everyone, but you could see a few people disagreed with the leader.

"What if there's another sniper? A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds." Maggie replied looking over at Rick and you had to admit she did have a fair point. A shot from a 50 calibre sniper would pierce through a wooden pallet like butter, but you didn't want to run. Running meant giving up everything you guys had done to take this prison, all the people you had lost to get to where you were right now, would mean nothing if you ran away.

"Rick says we're not running, we're not running." Glenn said and you nodded in agreement.

"No, better to live like rats." Merle's voice suddenly shouted and you looked over towards the door between the cellblock and large room where Merle was currently locked in, to find him leaning against the railings of the door staring at all of you.

"You got a better idea?" Rick questioned turning around to Merle as you silently prayed he would shut up, knowing whatever he had to say wouldn't be good.

"Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day. But we lost the window, didn't we? I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now." Merle informed and it was clear he was enjoying this.

"We ain't scared of that prick." Daryl stated taking a few steps in Merle's direction as he looked down at his older brother from where you guys were standing.

"Y'all should be. That truck through the fence thing, that's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to." Merle replied, looking up at you and Daryl as he rested his forearms against the door railings.

"Let's put him in the other cellblock." Maggie muttered turning away from Merle in annoyance and you understood her hatred for the older Dixon after what he did to you guys.

"No. He's got a point." Daryl replied, glancing over at you as you nodded backing him up before looking back at Merle.

"This is all you. You started this." Maggie shouted, glaring back at Merle, but you shook your head.

"No, this is on the Governor." You stated sternly glancing down at Maggie before looking back at Merle.

"What difference whose fault it is? What do we do?" Beth questioned walking down the steps towards Rick and Hershel.

"I said we should leave. Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here." Hershel stated, a hint of frustration in his voice as he stared at Rick who seemed at loss at what to. You watched Rick for a few seconds, trying figure out what the man was thinking before he began walking away.

"Get back here!" Hershel suddenly shouted angrily and you actually jumped, your heart rate skyrocketing as memories of Frank yelling at you filled your mind from the simple outburst. Daryl quickly grabbed your shoulder noticing your sudden panic, snapping you out of your flashback. You looked into his worried blue eyes as you gave him a small smile to silently say thank you.

"You're slipping, Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy, now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something." Hershel stated firmly and everyone went silent as you all stared at the two men before Rick nodded and left the room. Nobody moved or said anything for a few minutes until Carl walked out after his father and everyone slowly went back to what they were doing before.

Pushing yourself away from the railing, you made your way back to yours and Daryl's new cell as you slung your crossbow off your shoulder. You took a seat on the bed as you began cleaning the bolts with the spare rag you kept in your backpack. A few minutes passed before Daryl stepped into the cell, leaning against the wall opposite you and you could feel him staring at you, wanting to clearly talk to you about something, but he didn't say anything.

You glanced up at him noticing he was biting his thumb nail which you knew was a nervous habit, before he caught your eye and sighed.

"I know ya keep sayin' that nothin' happened back at Woodbury, but I know somethin' did." Daryl finally said, looking over at you as you went back to cleaning your crossbow bolts.

"We have bigger issues to deal with right now. It doesn't matter." You replied, not looking over at him as you tried to focus on what you were doing, hoping he would just drop the topic.

"It does matter." Daryl muttered, but you shook your head looking up at him as he leant against the wall opposite you.

"What do you want me to say, Daryl? That the Governor locked Maggie and I in a room and held a knife to my throat? That he made us take our clothes off in front of him?" You questioned, staring up at Daryl from your seated position on the bed as tears began filling your eyes. "That he bent me over a table and forced himself on me? That I couldn't do anything to stop him because he threatened to cut Glenn's hand off? Is that what you wanted to know?"

"Y/N..." Daryl said softly, not knowing what to say as he took in your teary eyes, he hated hearing what the Governor did to you. He should have never let you go on that supply run, he knew it was a bad idea. But once you wanted to do something there was no stopping you, Daryl knew that.

"It's over now. I'm alive, Maggie's alive, Glenn's alive and we found Merle. That's all that matters." You said looking down at your crossbow in your lap, unable to hold Daryl's worried gaze.

"Remember that time at the bar playing pool? We would have been only 19 years old I reckon and that older creepy guy tried hittin' on ya and kept trying to touch ya whenever it was your turn at pool?" Daryl suddenly questioned, confusing you slightly at the sudden change of topic, but you weren't going to complain.

"Yeah, you hit him with your pool cue, breaking it over his head and when we left you slashed the tyres to his motorcycle? How could I forget." You replied with a soft chuckle as you wiped away the tears in your eyes.

"What about the time back in school when you stood up in the middle of class and mouthed off at one of the popular girls because she was making fun of me?" Daryl asked and you couldn't help the smile on your face as you remembered that day.

_It was in your last year of high school and you couldn't even remember how it started, but it was during first period in math class. It was one of the classes you shared with Daryl, but the teacher had made set seats so the two of you were literally on opposite sides of the classroom. Daryl was in the backrow while you were seated in the front row. You hated the front row, the teachers could always tell when you weren't listening and they always picked on the kids in the front row._

_It wouldn't have been more than five minutes into the lesson when it all started. The teacher was going through the answers to the homework sheet, picking random people to say their answer out loud and you hoped like hell she didn't pick you because you didn't do the homework._

_"That's correct, well done Tiffany." The teacher said, smiling at the girl who was sitting a few rows behind you and you had to duck your head so the teacher couldn't see you rolling your eyes. Tiffany and her group of friends were the stuck-up popular girls who had all the teachers wrapped around their fingers and it didn't help that her father was the principle._

_"Daryl. Can you tell me your answer for question five?" The teacher suddenly said and you glanced over your shoulder at Daryl who was staring at the paper in front of him trying to make out he was trying to read his answer, but you knew he didn't do it either._

_You looked down at the blank homework sheet in front of you as you read question five, hoping it was an easy question that he might be able to quickly workout in his head. 'Solve the quadratic equation by completing the square: v2 - 7v + 9 = 0' Shit. You didn't even know what the quadratic formula was unless you looked in your text book. Daryl was so screwed._

_"32?" Daryl said, but it sounded more like a question than an answer and by the look on the teachers face it was wrong._

_"Wow, I can't believe how dumb some people are. Although a redneck like him, I shouldn't be that surprised." You heard Tiffany whisper softly to her friends next her as they all started laughing. You took a deep breath, calming your growing anger. You hated that girl as it was, she did not want to anger you further by saying shit about Daryl._

_"That's not even close Mr Dixon. Does anyone know the answer?" The teacher asked looking around the room, her eyes glancing over you as you sunk down in your chair, praying she didn't ask you before Tiffany started talking._

_"The answer is so easy. V= 5.30 and V= 1.70. Daryl, must really be stupid if he didn't know that." Tiffany answered, saying the last part slightly softer, but you heard her and that was it. You weren't going to let that shit slid, not when it was at Daryl._

_"You think he's stupid because he didn't do the homework? What have you ever accomplished in your life time that makes you Einstein?" You questioned, standing up from your seat as you turned around to face her. You kept your expression stern as you stared at her and you could tell she was slightly intimidated as she sat up a bit straighter in her chair._

_"Whatever." She responded, rolling her eyes at you._

_"Keep rolling your eyes. Maybe you'll find a brain back there." You snapped, glaring down at her and you knew you should probably sit back down before the teacher gave you detention or some shit, but you were enjoying this too much and nobody says that shit to Daryl and gets away with it._

_"I can't even take you seriously when you look like that." Tiffany responded motioning towards your face causing her friends to laugh and you smiled._

_"I am certain that 90 percent of your 'beauty' could be removed with a Kleenex, so you should shut the fuck up." You retaliated, crossing your arms over your chest as the others in class started laughing and you glanced over at Daryl who was laughing too before you turned back to Tiffany and you could tell she wanted to respond, but clearly didn't know what to say. "If you wanna speak, go for it. Shock me and say something intelligent."_

_"That's enough!" The teacher suddenly yelled and you looked over your shoulder to find the teacher standing up behind her desk staring at you in anger and you sighed. Of course Tiffany wasn't going to get in trouble for this. "Y/N, go to the principles office now! And don't come back until after school for detention." The teacher instructed and you rolled your eyes. It was barley nine in the morning and you were already kicked out of class for the day, that's gotta be some kind of record._

_"Sure thing." You replied with a fake smile as you shoved your books into your school bag before making your way towards the door. "Oh and Tiffany? Nice tan, orange is my favourite colour!" You commented with a grin before closing the door behind yourself as you made your way towards the principle's office._

_The day went by slowly as you sat in the principle's office doing whatever work you had in your school bag. Although you finished everything a few hours ago, but didn't want to tell the principle knowing he would make you start doing something else. So instead you just sat there, writing and drawing random things in one of your books until school and detention were over before you were finally allowed to leave._

_"I was startin' to think they'd keep ya in there overnight." Daryl shouted as you walked out the school gate to find him leaning against a light post along the sidewalk and you laughed, shaking your head as you walked towards him._

_"I would probably sleep better in there than in my own house." You responded with a soft chuckle, intending it to be a joke, but you both knew there was a bit of truth behind your comment. It was Friday night, which meant your mother and Frank would be out at the local bar right now, getting blackout drunk and rocking up at home in the middle of the night yelling and laughing and carrying on until the sun was basically up. You were kind of use to it by now and even managed to buy yourself a pair of earplugs to wear during those nights, so you could actually get some sleep._

_"Ya can come back to mine tonight, if ya want? My old man's out with some hooker, he won't be home for a few days." Daryl suggested and you nodded. You had stayed at his house a couple of times over the past few years, but you only ever did it when his father wasn't home, you made that mistake once and Daryl had never let you near the house when his father was home again._

_That night the two of you were in Daryl's room. You were in his bed, while he slept on the small couch that the two of you had dragged into the room a few hours earlier. It was what you usually did, but you still felt awful for taking his bed even though you knew he'd never let you sleep on the couch while he was in a bed._

_"I feel bad for kicking you out of your own bed, Dixon." You suddenly said as you stared up at the ceiling, well where the ceiling probably was because it was dark and you could barely make out the shape of Daryl's_ _body_ _couch on the other side of the room. The two of you said goodnight nearly half an hour ago, but you knew he was still awake. Neither of you could ever fall asleep quickly._

_"Makes us even after what ya did today in_ _class_ _." Daryl's voice replied quietly and you laughed softly as you rested your arm under your head._

_"Anyone who messes with you, messes with me. Plus I've always wanted an excuse to put that girl in her place." You admitted and you heard Daryl chuckle softly in response as you rolled over in bed, so you were laying on your side._

_"How many days do ya have detention for?" Daryl asked after a few minutes of silence._

_"A week. Sorry, that means we can't go out hunting after school next week." You replied, suddenly feeling guilty. The two of you always went out hunting together a few times a week after school. It was like your own little escape away from the deadbeat town you lived in and away from his father and Frank. It allowed the two of you to relax and have fun, even if you didn't find any animals_ _. You_ _both still enjoyed it and liked each others company, even if neither you felt like talking, it was never bad or awkward._

_"Looks like I'll have to go without ya." Daryl teased, knowing full well you wouldn't want him going out there without you. "I might actually be able to get somethin' without ya scaring the game away." Daryl added and you rolled your eyes as you grabbed your pillow and threw it in his general direction as you heard him grunt in surprise ,the pillow clearly hitting him causing you to chuckle._

_"The only thing you would get is boredom without me there." You replied and you heard Daryl snort as he laughed and you smiled. He never laughed much when you were out in public and around other people, always putting up a protective tough guy shield around him_ _. But_ _when it was just the two of you he seemed to lower that shield and expressed himself more often._

_"Keep tellin' ya self that. Goodnight Y/N." Daryl said and you could basically hear the smile on his face as you glanced over at him, but you couldn't see him in the darkness._

_"Wait, can I have that pillow back?"_

"Yeah, I remember that." You replied with a soft smile thinking back to that day before you lifted your head looking over at Daryl as he began to walk over to you, taking a seat on the edge of the bed beside you.

"We had each other's backs before all this and we still have each other's backs now. I won't let the Governor hurt ya again, Y/N. Nothin' bad is gonna happen to ya, not when I'm around." Daryl stated and you couldn't help the tears rising in your eyes again after hearing those words and he clearly noticed as he pulled you into a tight hug.

"Thank you." You whispered, Daryl wrapping his arms over your shoulder, holding you tightly as you rested your head in the crook of his neck. You didn't say anything further, sometimes silence spoke louder than words and Daryl knew that as he kissed to the top of your head gently.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long chapter, but I just needed to post all of this. Hope you guys are enjoying this series, if you are please like or leave a comment, it means the world to me. Anyway, until next time stay safe everyone xx


	12. Chapter 12

"Field's filled with walkers." Rick's voice suddenly shouted from downstairs in the cellblock while you and Daryl sat side by side in your cell.

"Stay here, I'll be back." Daryl said softly brushing a strand of your hair out of your face and you nodded looking over at him as he placed a gentle kiss against your lips before he got up and walked out the cell. No doubt going to talk to Rick about what the next move was.

Daryl was only gone for a few minutes before you heard him climb up the metal stairs and two seconds later he walked into the cell, but by the expression on his face you knew something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?" You quickly questioned, standing up from the bed as you reached his side in an instant, but he shook his head.

"Nothin', just some of 'em don't want Merle here." Daryl muttered and you nodded. You didn't expect everyone to just welcome the older Dixon into the group, not after what he did, but he wasn't leaving so they were gonna have to get used to it.

"After what Merle did it's gonna take some time for everyone to get used to him living here." You replied and Daryl sighed rubbing his face with his hands as he walked over to the bed and laid down on his back, tucking his arm under his head as he stared up at you in defeat.

"What if they don't get used to it?" He questioned and you could tell Daryl was really worried about this. It was his brother and after losing him once, he didn't want to lose him again, you understood that.

"Merle is Merle. He isn't the same man I remember from next door, but he's still Merle." You began to say as you gingerly sat down on the edge of the bed as Daryl rested his arm over your thighs, looking up at you. "It doesn't matter if the others ever get used to him being here or not because he is staying. I'm not letting either of you leave again, alright?" You asked and Daryl nodded giving you a soft smile.

The two of you sat there for a few minutes before Carol knocked against the door frame catching both your attention as you gave her a smile.

"I'll let you guys catch up." You said, realising the two of them probably wanted some privacy as you stood up, grabbing your crossbow and began walking out the cell before Carol grabbed your arm.

"Thank you for coming back." She said softly and you nodded giving her a smile before you walked out the cell. You weren't sure where or what you were gonna do, so you just made your way down the stairs in the cellblock, spotting Rick talking Glenn.

"Hey, Y/N?" Rick called spotting you walking down the stairs as he began walking over to you.

"What's up?" You asked stopping at the bottom of the stairs beside him as you slung your crossbow over your shoulder.

"What you did for me... For my daughter..." Rick began to say, trailing off as he looked down at the floor clearly not knowing how to word what he wanted to say, but you knew what he was meaning.

"You guys are like family to me now, it's what we do." You replied with a gentle smile as Rick looked up at you with kind eyes.

"Daryl said the same thing." Rick said meeting your eyes with a chuckle. Of course Daryl did, he was loyal to his family and friends, even before this, you could always rely on him no matter what. He was loyal and did everything in his power to protect and help the ones he loves.

"Dad! Andrea is in the field, walking towards the prison." Carl suddenly shouted as you both quickly turned around to find the young boy running into the cellblock.

"Andrea?" Rick questioned wanting to make sure he heard him correctly and Carl nodded.

"We have to make sure she's alone." You suddenly said pulling your crossbow off your shoulder as Daryl and Carol came rushing down the stairs after hearing what the younger Grimes said.

"No. Ya stayin' in here." Daryl quickly stated causing your head to snap around in his direction in disbelief. If Andrea was with the Governor or others from Woodbury then they needed all the fighters all they could get and you were a damn good shot. "You're already hurt, stay in here. Merle can help us." Daryl explained and you sighed, but nodded as everyone rushed out the cellblock.

After most of them left the building you made your way into the other room next to the cellblock, spotting Carol organising the makeshift shelves the guys built with the limited food you had left sitting on it.

You walked over to one of the metal tables, taking a seat as you rested your crossbow over your lap waiting for the others to come back. You didn't know Andrea. You knew she used to be apart of Rick's group until they got separated at the farm, but she was with the Governor now and apparently sleeping with him. Although you tried not to judge her considering Merle used to be one of the Governor's soldiers, so she might not be too bad.

After a few minutes the door to your left opened as Rick and the others walked in along with a blonde woman who you assumed was Andrea. You eyed her cautiously as she walked over to Carol, wrapping the other woman into a tight hug and you smiled slightly at the reunion as Daryl walked over to you, taking a seat on the table beside you.

You looked over at Merle, who was standing by the door watching all of you before you turned back to Andrea as she took in the scenery around her.

"I can't believe this. Where's Shane? And Lori?" Andrea questioned, looking around at all of you and you could tell nobody wanted to say it.

"She had a girl. Lori didn't survive. Neither did T-Dog." You informed looking over at Andrea as she quickly turned around, staring at you in disbelief.

"I'm so sorry. Carl. Rick I..." Andrea began saying looking over at the leader who avoided her gaze as he stared at the ground. "You all live here?"

"Here and the cellblock." Glenn responded, looking over at his old friend, but you weren't sure if he still consider her a friend, hell you weren't sure what any of them thought.

"There? Well, can I go in?" She asked pointing towards the door to the cellblock.

"I won't allow that." Rick suddenly said shaking his head. Alright, Rick definitely didn't consider her a friend anymore.

"I'm not the enemy, Rick." Andrea suddenly said, but now it was your turn to shake your head.

"We don't know that." You replied, looking over at the woman who was standing in front of Rick a few metres away from you and Daryl.

"Hang on, who are you? I was with these guys since the start and you weren't there. How do we know you aren't an enemy?" Andrea suddenly questioned, trying to turn things on you but you just laughed shaking your head as you grabbed Daryl's hand, lacing your fingers together.

"I'm Daryl's girlfriend." You answered looking over at her and you could see her eyes go wide in shock. "We had that field and courtyard outside until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up."

"He said you fired first." Andrea tried to defend, but before you could respond Rick started talking.

"Well, he's lying. He killed an inmate who survived in here." Rick replied.

"We liked him. He was one of us." Daryl added looking over at the woman as you squeezed his hand gently for comfort.

"I didn't know anything about that. As soon as I found out, I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot-out." She replied, looking around at all of you as she took in all this information.

"That was days ago." Glenn commented crossing his arms as he looked over at Andrea who stared at him in complete shock before she turned around to Michonne.

"What have you told them?" She questioned.

"Nothing." Michonne simply answered, not bothering to elaborate on the topic any further.

"I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?"

"He almost killed Michonne and he would have killed us." Glenn responded.

"With his finger on the trigger. Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?" Andrea responded point towards Merle before continuing. "Look, I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am here trying to bring us together. We have to work this out."

"There's nothing to work out. We're gonna kill him. I don't know how or when, but we will." Rick responded not backing down as he crossed his arms.

"We can settle this. There is room at Woodbury for all of you." She tried to say but it was clear nobody was buying it.

"What makes you think this man wants to negotiate? Did he say that?" Hershel questioned, but Andrea shook her head.

"Then why did you come here?" Rick questioned, getting sick of all this small talk.

"Because he's gearing up for war. The people are terrified. They see you as killers. They're training to attack." Andrea explained and you weren't surprised, you all knew the truck through the fence was only the start of it.

"Next time you see Philip, you tell him I'm gonna take his other eye." Daryl muttered, anger evident in his tone.

"Rick. If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a whole town. Look at you. You've all lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore." She stated, turning around to face all of you.

"You want to make this right, get us inside." Rick suddenly said, but she shook her head. "Then we got nothing to talk about." Rick responded before walking off into the cellblock, leaving you all standing and sitting around the room.

After that Michonne took Andrea outside to talk in privacy giving the rest of you time to decide what to do. You all eventually decided on giving Andrea a car, so she could go back to Woodbury and talk to the Governor. Rick agreed to meeting the Governor somewhere in a couple of days at noon, to hopefully sort this whole thing out, but you knew it wouldn't be that easy. The Governor wouldn't agree to any truce, the only thing he wanted was a war and for you guys to be gone.

-

"What time is it?" Daryl mumbled from the bed, his usual deep southern drawl now raspy, laced with sleep and you smiled watching him as he yawned, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Slow down, cowboy. There's still a few hours till daylight." You chuckled placing your rifle against the wall next to the two crossbows before you began getting changed into the new clothes Carol had given you, so you didn't have to wear that oversized shirt Merle gave you back in Woodbury.

"What are ya doin'?" Daryl muttered, clearly still half asleep as you finished putting on your new blue bra before slipping on a black tank top and a long sleeved flannel, feeling more comfortable and relaxed in better fitting clothes.

"You can't even keep your eyes open, go back to sleep." You whispered, not wanting to wake anyone else in the other cells before you climbed into bed beside Daryl as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders pulling you into his chest.

"Were ya on watch all night?" Daryl asked softly and you nodded against his chest causing him to sigh. "Wasn't Rick meant to take over?"

"Yeah, but he's going on that run with Michonne and Carl today to find guns and ammo. I didn't want to wake him, he needs the rest." You simply replied as you fiddled with the loose thread on Daryl's sleeveless shirt.

"You need rest too."

"I can sleep all day if I want, we don't have anything better to do, but wait till that meeting with the Governor in two days' time." You muttered closing your eyes as Daryl began running his fingers through your hair.

"About that meeting... I want ya to stay here while we go." Daryl suddenly said causing your eyes to snap open at what he just said.

"Not gonna happen. I am not letting you guys meet with that monster alone." You quickly responded, lifting your head from his chest to look at him, but even with the small candle on the bedside table you could barely see his face.

"This ain't up for discussion. I don't want ya anywhere near that prick." Daryl responded, but before you could argue any further he continued talking. "Plus I need ya to keep an eye on Merle while we're gone. I don't want him doin' anythin' stupid, Rick is one step away from kickin' him out. Please Y/N, I need ya here." Daryl pleated and you sighed resting your head back on his chest.

"Okay. But if you guys aren't back after a few hours I'm going after you." You answered and you felt Daryl nod response as you relaxed back in his arms before the two of you fell asleep.

-

Rick, Daryl and Hershel left about half an hour ago to meet with the Governor, they wanted to leave early to scope the place out before the Governor got there and to make sure it wasn't a trap first. The rest of you were instructed to stay at the prison, a person on watch and by the gate at all times.

Most of you were in the large room next to the cellblock sorting through the various guns that Rick, Michonne and Carl managed to find yesterday. There were shotguns, assault rifles, hunting rifles, handguns, silencers, cases of bullets and magazines and much more. You still had no idea how they managed to find all these weapons, it was like they robbed a police station or something, but surely all police stations would have been scavenged by now.

"Carl, can you stash these at the loading dock?" You asked handing the young boy a couple of cases of bullets you grabbed from the table.

"If anyone gets pinned down, we need to make sure that they have plenty of ammo. I'll work on the cage outside." Glenn said as he grabbed one of the rifles and small blow torch as he began walking towards the door before Merle spoke up.

"What we should be doing is loading some of this firepower in a truck and paying a visit to the Governor. We know where he is right now." Merle stated from the other side of the room as he leant against the wall and you sighed. Merle had kept quiet for nearly 40 minutes without causing any trouble, but it looks like nothing lasts forever.

"Are you suggesting that we just go in and kill him?" Glenn questioned as you put the small handgun back down on the table taking a step towards Merle, not knowing how this little conversation will go down.

"Yeah, I am." The older Dixon responded, not taking his eyes off Glenn.

"We told Rick and Daryl that we'd stay put." Michonne replied from the kitchen space across the room and you had to admit that woman was growing on you, she had definitely earned her place.

"I've changed my mind, sweetheart. Being on the sideline with my brother out there ain't sitting right with me." Merle stated glancing over at Michonne.

"I don't like it either, but we don't have a choice. The three of them are right in the middle of it. No idea we're coming. They could get taken hostage or killed, a thousand things could go wrong." You spoke up looking over at Merle who shook his head at you.

"My dad can take care of himself." Carl commented before he began walking off with the cases of bullets you had given him.

"Sorry son, but your dad's head could be on a pike real soon." Merle teased, watching as Carl walked out the room, trying to ignore the older Dixon.

"Merle. Don't say that to him." You warned, glaring over at the older Dixon who gave you a sheepish smile.

"It's not the right move. Not now. Can't take the risk of putting them in the crossfire. Rick put Y/N and I in charge and that's our decision. It's final." Glenn instructed, glancing over at you for backup and you nodded in agreement before Glenn walked out the room.

"I'll help him with the cage." You muttered, glancing over at Merle before you followed Glenn outside.

Neither of you said anything as Glenn began cutting a gap through the metal cage so somebody could stand there and fire through the gap. It was a smart idea and if Rick and the Governor didn't work things out which was highly likely, then you guys were gonna need all the lookout spaces you could get.

"About what happened in Woodbury... I'm so sorry for what Merle did. He didn't have a choice and I know that doesn't make up for what happened, but-" You began to say before Glenn stopped cutting the wire and looked over at you.

"Merle took us to the Governor and Maggie told me what the Governor did to you both. I don't understand, after everything Merle has done, why do you keep standing up for him?" Glenn questioned in complete confusion and you sighed. It was a fair enough question and you probably should have seen it coming.

"I grew up in a shitty neighbourhood with even shitter people. Merle may be an asshole when he wants to be, but he always looked out for me and Daryl when we were growing up. He's like a brother to me and I will talk to him, alright?" You replied and Glenn nodded before motioning to the small gap in the wire cage and you grinned as you grabbed the rifle leaning against the wall before aiming through the gap he just created.

"That was easy." Glenn commented with a grin and you nodded before handing the gun back to him as you both made your way back into the building to find Merle filling a duffle bag with guns. Shit.

"Hey, you're not going." You stated, glancing over at Maggie who clearly didn't know what to do before you focused back on Merle.

"I don't need permission." Merle muttered and you sighed, walking down the steps towards him. You couldn't let him leave, too many things could go wrong.

"If you're going to live here with us, it's gonna be on our terms. If Michonne can do it, why can't you?" Maggie questioned as Merle began walking towards the door, but you quickly grabbed his shoulder trying to stop him.

"'Cause it's my brother out there, that's why. What's the matter with y'all?" Merle shouted, shrugging your hand off his shoulder as he climbed the stairs towards the door, but Glenn took a step forward blocking Merle from the door.

"I'm not gonna let you put them in danger." Glenn muttered as Merle took another step forward until they were literally face to face. Shit, this was not gonna end well. You had seen Merle in his far share of fights growing up and this was usually how they all started.

"Get out of my way, boy." Merle warned, but Glenn shook his head not backing down as you quickly climbed the steps until you were behind Merle, ready to pull him back if he started fighting.

"Get out of my way!" Merle shouted angrily as he grabbed Glenn, pushing him out the way. But in a split second Glenn spun around, grabbing Merle as he pushed him backwards causing the two of them to fall down the stairs taking you down with them.

The three of you tumbled down the stairs as you hit the cement ground hard landing on your back. You groaned in pain, grabbing your ribs in agony as stars began filling your vision. You could hear Merle and Glenn still fighting a few metres away, but you were too focused on not passing out to do anything about it until a gunshot echoed through the prison. You glanced across the room to find Beth standing there holding a small pistol in the air and you sighed with relief realising nobody had gotten hurt.

"Let me go! Let. Me. Go!" Merle's voice suddenly yelled and you forced yourself to sit up slightly, using the bottom stair to help you. You glanced over at Merle who was on his knees, Maggie, Glenn and Michonne holding him down before letting him go, taking a step backwards before Merle stood up, glaring at the three of them until his eyes landed on you and soften slightly.

"You alright?" Merle questioned, taking a step towards you and you nodded grabbing the railing to help yourself stand up as you grabbed your ribs with a wince.

"I'm fine. Guys, can I have a minute to talk to Merle?" You asked looking over at Maggie, Glenn and Michonne who nodded walking into the cellblock to give the two of you some privacy.

"Been a while since you and me actually had a proper conversation." Merle commented walking over to you as he leant against the other side railing of the stairs.

"Too bad the last conversation we actually had was right before you took us to the Governor and we all know how well that turned out." You muttered, looking down at the stairs.

"I didn't have a choice, the Governor, he-" Merle began to reply before you cut him off.

"I know." You sighed, rubbing your face with your hands. "You might be different, but you're still the same, Merle, deep down. I know you and I know you would do anything to protect Daryl and to make sure he's safe-"

"And you." Merle muttered causing you to look over at him in confusion as he folded his arms with a shrug. "You and Daryl are the only people who actually care about me and even then I think I've pushed Daryl away. He looks to Rick more as a brother than me." Merle stated and for a second you thought you could hear sadness in his tone.

"Hey, you may have done some shit that Daryl and well nobody agrees with, but he's still your brother and he would never replace you with anybody. But you need to stop starting fights around here. Daryl cares about this group like family and if you keep arguing and fighting with them you are only going to push him away. Promise me, you will just go along with what Rick and the others say?" You asked looking over at the older Dixon who stared at you for a few seconds, contemplating what you just said.

"You know I can't promise that." Merle replied and you sighed with a nod. Merle would do whatever it takes to protect Daryl, even if that meant going against what everyone else agreed on.

"I'm gonna go take watch, stay here and don't do anything stupid." You ordered staring at Merle who chuckled, but nodded in agreement.

-

The sun was setting along the horizon, dying the usual white clouds with different shades of orange and pink. There weren't many beautiful things left in this world, but sunsets and sunrises were still the same and for the few minutes they lasted, it made you almost forget about the world around you.

You sighed taking a deep breath of the cool afternoon air as you leant against the railing of the guard tower. You enjoyed keeping watch, it kept your mind busy and it was a lot better than sitting in the prison doing nothing.

"Oh, thank God." You sighed, hearing the familiar rumble of Daryl's motorcycle filling the air before you spotted him and Rick's car as they drove through the front gate of prison through the field of walkers. "Open the gate!" You yelled leaning over the railing to Carol who was standing in the courtyard by the gate before she quickly opened it letting them in.

You watched as Daryl climbed off his motorcycle, wearing his usual poncho as he walked over to the others who all began walking out the prison towards them, wanting to know what happened. They all talked for a few minutes, but you couldn't hear what they were saying from the top of the tower.

You figured they would tell you what happened after your watch shift so you walked back around along the platform as you took a seat, letting your legs dangle off the edge as you rested your arms against the lower railing bar.

"How'd it go?" You asked glancing over your shoulder after hearing footsteps climbing up the stairs to find Daryl walking towards you, but by the look on his face it didn't go well.

"Rick says the Governor want's us all dead." Daryl muttered, taking a seat besides you.

"I could have told you that days ago." You responded as you rested your chin on top of your arms along the railing. "Do you think we can beat them? I mean this is gonna turn into a war, right? And we all know Woodbury has the numbers."

Daryl didn't say anything for a few seconds as he took his poncho off and wrapped it over your shoulders and you smiled resting your head against his shoulder.

"We have more guns now and the prison is big. We could use that against 'em." Daryl finally said as you both looked out along the horizon, watching the sky slowly turn dark.

"Like hide in the prison and attack when they aren't expecting it?" You asked and you felt Daryl nod as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders. Neither of you spoke for a while after that as you both looked out along the horizon as stars slowly began filling the dark night sky. You could tell Daryl was worried about the Governor, hell everyone was worried about the Governor, but you weren't going to give up this prison. It was the first real safe place you had ever found in this new world and you couldn't live on the road with Judith, she needed a place to call home. A place to grow up. To have somewhat of a normal childhood, hell, Carl and Beth deserved that too, you couldn't lose the prison.

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

"Daryl? Y/N? You up there?" Rick's voice shouted, waking you from your sleep as you blinked your eyes open a few times taking in your surroundings and you realised you were still in the watch tower.

"What the hell?" Daryl mumbled from beside you and you chuckled looking over at him as he rolled onto his back, covering his eyes with the back of his hand from the morning sunlight.

You watched Daryl for a few seconds, but it was clear he didn't want to get up just yet and you rolled your eyes. Throwing his poncho off your body, you stood yourself up and began walking towards the door that lead to the platform.

"What's up?" You called leaning against the railing as you looked down to find Rick and Hershel standing near the gate looking up at the tower. You tried your best to look awake as you ran your fingers through your messy hair and straightened up your flannel shirt.

"Can you guys come down here, we need to talk." Rick replied, his voice now softer and you realised whatever he wanted to talk about he didn't want other people hearing.

"We'll be down in a second." You shouted before you opened the door to the guard tower finding Daryl sitting up against the wall. His hair spiked up in different directions as he rubbed his eyes and you chuckled walking over to him.

"Rick and Hershel want to talk, it sounds serious." You stated, crouching down in front of him as you gently patted his hair back down.

"Well let's go see what it's about." Daryl replied, leaning forward giving you a quick kiss before the two of you made your way down the stairs of the watch tower.

Rick and Hershel were standing by the gate waiting for the two of you, but you had a feeling that whatever they were gonna say wasn't going to be good. After a few minutes of Rick explaining what the Governor actually wanted, you realised you were right. This wasn't good. The Governor wanted Michonne, and Rick was actually thinking about doing it.

"It's the only way. No one else knows." Rick sighed pinching the bridge of his nose as he looked around at the three of you.

"Ya gonna tell 'em?" Daryl asked and by the tone in his voice you knew he didn't agree with it.

"Not till after. We have to do it today. It has to be quiet." Rick replied looking between you and Daryl and you sighed, not liking this idea at all.

"He won't just kill her, you know that right? What happened to Glenn, Maggie and I back in Woodbury that would be nothing compared to what he has planned for her." You finally spoke up, looking over at Rick who nodded, clearly already having thought of that.

"Just ain't us, man." Daryl said softly, but before Rick could reply Hershel began talking.

"No. No, it isn't." Hershel muttered and without another word he began walking off, obviously not liking this idea either.

"We do this, we avoid a fight. No one else dies." Rick stated, taking a step towards you and Daryl and you sighed, glancing over at Daryl who was giving you a questioning look as you shrugged your shoulders. You knew he wanted your opinion, but you weren't going to say yes or no, whatever Rick and Daryl decided is what you would go with. You trusted the two of them, they had kept this group alive for this long, they knew what they were doing.

"Okay." Daryl finally said, looking back over at Rick who nodded.

"We need someone else." Rick added and he didn't have to say the name for you to know he was referring to Merle.

"I'll go talk to him." You suddenly said, fixing your crossbow strap over your shoulder as you looked over at Rick who shook his head.

"I'll do it." Rick responded and before either of you could reply he was already walking back towards the prison. Well that went about as well as you thought it would.

"I know, Rick. He won't do it." Daryl muttered and you nodded in agreement, watching as Rick walked back into the prison and you sighed.

"What do we do then? If he changes his mind and doesn't do it?" You asked turning your attention back to Daryl who sighed.

"Then we do what we gotta do to fight against the Governor. If he doesn't get Michonne he will bring everythin' he's got to the prison and try take us out." Daryl answered honestly and you nodded, secretly hoping Rick doesn't go through with it. Michonne was a good woman, she was part of the group now.

-

The morning went by fairly quickly. You, Daryl, Glenn and Michonne set up spiked traps along the road in front of the prison to make it harder for the Governor to get to you. It was Michonne's idea and it was a damn good idea too.

You were busy helping Carol make lunch for everyone when Daryl came into the room, wanting to know if you guys had seen Merle around. But you hadn't seen the older Dixon for a few hours which kind of set alarm bells off in your head.

Once you finished preparing lunch with Carol you set off to try find Merle. Daryl hadn't come back saying that he had found him, so you assumed he was still missing.

"Merle? Daryl?" You called quietly as you made your way down a dark hallways, your crossbow raised not taking any chances. You had cleared this section of the prison, but you rarely came down here.

"Ya need to grow up. Things are different now." You heard Merle's voice say and you sighed with relief as you walked into the room to find him talking to Daryl.

"Things might be different, but the three of us are still here." You said with a soft smile as you walked towards the two of them on the other side of the room. Merle gave you a gentle smile watching as you stood besides Daryl.

"Your people look at me like I'm the devil, grabbing you and those lovebirds back at that supermarket." Merle stated nodding towards you as he spoke. "Now y'all want to do the same damn thing I did. Snatch someone up and deliver them to the Governor, just like me. People do what they gotta do or they die."

"Can't do things without people anymore, man." Daryl replied causing Merle to scoff as he leant against the bench to his right.

"Maybe these people need somebody like me around, huh? Do their dirty work. The bad guy. Yeah, maybe that's how it is now, huh? How does that hit ya?" Merle questioned, staring at the wall across the room until Daryl took a step forwards, placing his hand on Merle's shoulder.

"I just want my brother back." Daryl responded, his tone gentle as he looked at his older brother and if you weren't mistaken you could almost see tears in Merle's eyes.

"Get out of here, man." Merle responded but his voice wasn't harsh, it sounded almost sad as he glanced over at Daryl before he looked away. You sighed taking Daryl's hand as he began pulling you towards the door, wanting to give his brother some time alone.

-

After lunch you helped Beth and Maggie with the dishes while Daryl went outside to look for Rick. You weren't sure why, but you just had a bad feeling about something. Rick decided not to go through with it, so Michonne was safe, but something just felt wrong.

"Y/N? You okay?" Maggie asked nudging your shoulder as you snapped out of your thoughts before you nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm good, sorry I was just out of it for a bit there." You responded as Maggie handed you another plate before you began drying it the towel.

"Tell me about it, I was calling your name for a while. I know things have been a bit tense since Woodbury... I'm here if you wanna talk about it." The other woman said and you nodding meeting her gaze as she gave you a soft smile.

"Y/N." Daryl suddenly called, not giving you any chance to reply to Maggie as you turned around to find him and Rick jogging through the room and by the expression on their faces you knew something wasn't right.

"I'll be back." You quickly said handing the towel to Maggie as you grabbed your crossbow off the table behind you before you jogged after the two men. They told you that Merle and Michonne were missing as the three of you ran into the room where you and Daryl had last spoken to Merle. Shit. He's not here. This isn't good.

"He was in here. Said he was looking for drugs. Said a lot of things actually." Daryl muttered as the three of you spread out, trying to look for any indication of what Merle's plan was.

"Like what?" Rick's voice questioned from the other side of the room.

"Said that you were gonna change your mind. Here we go." Daryl said kneeling down on the ground by the back door as he picked up a piece of cloth.

"Yeah, he took her." You commented staring at the cloth in Daryl's hand along with wire along the floor that he no doubt used to tie her hands together with.

"Damn it! I'm going after him." Rick responded, already walking out the room not wanting to waste time.

"Ya can't track for shit." Daryl stated as the two of you jogged after Rick as he reached the back door.

"Then the both of us go." Rick replied, but Daryl shook his head.

"No, Y/N and I will. I said I'd go and I'll go." Daryl answered and you nodded.

"Plus they're gonna come back here. You need to be ready." You stated, slinging your crossbow back over your shoulder as Daryl grabbed the door handle before he turned back to Rick.

"You're family too." Daryl muttered before opening the door as he grabbed your hand and with that the two of you ran over towards cars, climbing onto his motorcycle.

Apparently, the Governor was going to meet Rick at a certain place when he gave him Michonne so Daryl figured that was where Merle would be heading. It made sense and it was the only lead you had so you weren't going to question it.

You were only riding for nearly 10 minutes before you spotted Michonne walking down the road and your heart dropped. Why wasn't she with Merle? What happened?

"Hey! Where's my brother? Ya kill him?" Daryl questioned stopping the motorcycle besides her as you leant forward to try hear her above the loud exhaust of the bike.

"He let me go." Michonne responded and you felt Daryl tense up in front of you. Shit. What the hell is Merle trying to do?

"Don't let anyone come after us." Daryl muttered, not waiting for her to reply before he tapped the bike into gear and took off down the road causing you to hold onto him tighter so you didn't fall off. Why would he let Michonne go? He wouldn't do that unless he had a plan, but what the hell was it? Surely he wasn't planning on ambushing the Governor and his men at the meeting spot... there was only one of him against like 20 other men, he couldn't possibly think that was a good idea?

The ride to the meeting spot felt like a lifetime, but finally Daryl bought the motorcycle to a stop on the side of the road as you spotted what looked to be a bunch of farm sheds and tall silos to the left. That must be the meeting spot.

"Let's split up, we'll cover more ground." You suggested, climbing off the motorcycle as you took your crossbow off your back, holding it in your hands ready for any danger you may face.

"Y/N..." Daryl began to say, but you quickly shook your head.

"We have to find him. Come on, we're wasting time." You responded and Daryl sighed but nodded before the two of you ran towards the meeting spot. As you got closer Daryl began heading to the right towards all the silos while you wandered to the left towards the various sheds.

"Come on, Merle, where are you?" You whispered to yourself as you walked around the side of one of the sheds coming face to face with a walker. You let out a surprised yelp slamming the end of your crossbow against its face, crushing its skull in an instant before you continued walking.

He had to be here somewhere, you thought to yourself as you finished checking inside the first shed before you made your way towards the longer wooden shed. But as you climbed the small stairs that lead into the shed something caught your eye.

Acting on instinct you quickly turned around, your crossbow raised as you scanned the empty area in front of you, your eyes landing on a walker bent over feeding on a body.

You spotted the walker earlier, but you didn't think much of it. The walker was too busy eating to notice you, so you didn't bother shooting it. But now as you stared at it, there was something familiar about it that you just couldn't seem to place. It wasn't until the walker moved its right arm, exposing the long metal knife attached to it that you realised who it was. Merle.

"No..." You mumbled, your voice coming out shaky as you took a few steps forward. No. No. No. This isn't happening, it can't be him. It can't. "Merle?" You whispered dropping your crossbow, tears blurring your vision as your legs buckled causing your knees to hit the dirt ground as you stared at Merle in disbelief.

"Y/N? Ya okay?" Daryl's voice suddenly questioned from behind, but you couldn't look at him as you dropped your head. How the hell were you meant to tell him that his brother was dead? That his brother had turned? How were you meant to tell Daryl that the only family member he ever cared about was gone? "Y/N?" Daryl called worriedly and suddenly his hand was on your shoulder, his other under your chin as he lifted your head forcing you to look at him. He was crouched down beside you, his eyes scanning your body for any kind of injury before he looked back up at your face as he took in your teary red eyes.

"I'm sorry." You mumbled, your voice coming out a mere whisper as you looked over at Merle who was still busy eating the dead body to notice you guys by the shed. You glanced back at Daryl who was following your line of sight and you could tell the exact moment he realised who the walker was. He quickly stood up shaking his head in clear disbelief before he started walking towards what used to be his brother.

"D-Daryl don't." You tried to say watching as he started walking towards his brother but there was nothing you could do, but watch as Merle finally lifted his head looking straight at Daryl and that was it. You couldn't hold back your tears anymore as you covered your mouth with your hand, trying to muffle your sobs as you watched Daryl drop his crossbow. He had his back to you, but you could tell that he was crying as Merle began staggering towards him.

"No!" Daryl cried, pushing Merle's body away, but it didn't do much as Merle continued walking towards him. Daryl pushed him away again and again until he pulled his knife out, slamming it into Merle's shoulder as he pushed his brother to the ground.

You could hear Daryl crying as he stared at the lifeless body below him before he pulled the knife out and began stabbing Merle's face repetitively. You quickly forced yourself to your feet, throwing your crossbow over your shoulder as you walked over to Daryl. You had never seen him like this and you weren't sure what he was going to do as he suddenly dropped backwards away from his brother, half sitting and half laying on the ground as he cried.

Without hesitation you jogged over to him, dropping to your knees besides him as you pulled him into a hug. For a second you thought you might have done the wrong thing as his body stayed tense, but before you could pull away and give him space he melted into your body, his arms wrapping tightly around your midsection as he buried his face into the crook of your neck while he cried.

You forced tears back, biting your trembling lip as you held Daryl tightly. You had to be strong for him, he needed you to be strong. You couldn't fall apart now, Daryl just lost his brother. Sure, Merle was like an older brother to you too, but he was Daryl's blood and nothing could ever beat that. You had to be the strong one, it's what Merle would have wanted. He wouldn't want Daryl having to look after himself after what just happened, he would want you to step up and take care of him which is exactly what you were gonna do.

You weren't sure how long the two of you stayed like on the ground, but the sun was getting lower in the sky and you knew there were only a couple hours of daylight left. Daryl had stopped crying a while ago, but his body was still trembling against you as you held him tighter, one arm resting on the small of his back, the other cradling the back of his head as your fingers ran through his hair slowly.

You didn't want to move, but you knew it was dangerous to be outside the prison after dark, especially now that the Governor would be pissed about not getting Michonne. But right then you didn't give a rats ass about the Governor. Daryl was all that mattered and you knew he wasn't ready to go back to the prison just yet, but as the familiar sound of walkers groaning filled the air you were starting to think he might not have a choice.

You glanced up, spotting a group of walkers in the distance heading towards you. There were roughly seventeen walkers give or take a couple and if you and Daryl were in good condition then you might have had a chance against them, but right now you knew that wasn't possible.

"Daryl... We have to go." You said softly, your voice coming out hoarse as you slowly pulled away from him watching as he glanced over his shoulder towards the walkers before he nodded.

Slowly the two of you stood up, but he never let go of your shoulder and you weren't sure if it was because he was unsteady on his feet and needed the support or because he didn't want to break the physical contact with you. But you didn't ask as you picked up his crossbow off the ground, slinging it over your other shoulder.

"Give me the keys." You said gently, holding your hand out as you looked up at Daryl taking in his red brimmed eyes as he took the keys out his pocket and handed them to you without arguing. There was no way you were gonna let him ride home, not after what just happened. But, you half expected him to argue with you about it, although at that point he probably didn't have the energy to argue about something like that which was both good and bad at the same time.

"Come on." You said gently giving him a sad smile as you grabbed his hand before the two of you began walking back to the road where he had parked the motorcycle a few hours earlier.

You quickly secured both your crossbows to the back of the motorcycle where Daryl usually kept his before you climbed onto the bike putting the key in the ignition, bringing the old Triumph to life as Daryl took a seat behind you.

You waited until Daryl wrapped his arms around your waist, making sure he was holding on before you pulled the clutch in and tapped the bike into gear as you took off down the road in the direction of the prison.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know this chapter was really sad. Trust me, this hurt a lot writing it, I love Merle and he deserved so much more.   
> There's only 3 chapters of this fic left which are already written, I just have to re-read them for spelling mistakes and all that stuff first.   
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it and until next time stay safe xx


	14. Chapter 14

  
Eventually you and Daryl reached the prison as you slowed the motorcycle down. Although the sun was slowly setting behind you somewhere, you could still spot Rick and Carl already opening the gate for the two of you as you rode towards them. You saw the slight confusion etched on Rick's face when he realised you were riding the bike and not Daryl as you rode past them.

You slowed the bike down parking it near the other vehicles before killing the engine and looking down at your feet as you felt tears rising in your eyes again. You had spent the past couple of hours forcing your tears away, but now being back at the prison you were back to square one as you thought of Merle. But you were quickly taken away from your painful thoughts when you heard Rick call out to the two of you.

"What happened? Where's Merle?' Rick questioned and you glanced over your shoulder spotting him and Carl jogging over to the two of you. Rick quickly slowed his pace when he saw the tears in your eyes and you knew he figured out what happened as he dropped his head.

You felt Daryl climb off the bike and you looked over your shoulder as he yanked his crossbow off the back of the motorcycle in frustration, knocking yours to ground as he did so before he began walking towards the prison.

"Daryl, wait!" You shouted, quickly climbing off the motorcycle as you jogged the few metres towards him grabbing his shoulder to get him to stop.

"Leave me be!" Daryl shouted in an angry yet broken voice as he threw his arm back, knocking you to the ground as he tried to get your hand off of him. You landed on your side hard, but all you were focused on was Daryl who quickly glanced over his shoulder at you. A flash of guilt and regret flashing over his eyes as he saw you on the ground before he turned around and marched off towards the prison.

"Daryl!" You called, your voice breaking at the end as you tried to sit yourself up not even caring anymore as tears began spilling from your eyes. Suddenly Rick was kneeling in front of you. His worried eyes staring at you for a few seconds before he pulled you into a hug.

And that was it, you were unable to hold it back anymore as you cried into his shoulder and he let you, holding you as you let your pain and sadness out. You could feel your body shaking as Rick held you tightly, knowing exactly how you were feeling in that moment after losing his wife only a few weeks earlier.

"Carl, go back inside." Rick instructed, glancing over at the young boy who stared at the two of you, clearly having worked out why you were crying. He stood there not knowing how to help before he nodded and ran back towards the prison.

You were glad Rick told his son to leave, you didn't want the boy to see you cry, hell you didn't want Rick to see you cry. You didn't want to seem weak, but honestly right then you didn't care. After a few minutes you slowly pulled away from Rick, wiping your watery eyes as he helped you to your feet.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N." Rick said softly and even though he didn't like Merle, he sounded sincere and you knew he meant it as you nodded, not trusting your voice at the moment.

"Look, I know you won't want to talk about it, but I need to know what happened and what the Governor is gonna do next." Rick stated and you sighed glancing over at the other man who gave you a sympathetic look. You nodded before telling him everything that happened, knowing full well that if he asked Daryl, he wouldn't be able to talk about it.

"The Governor would be planning his next attack on the prison as we speak." Rick finally said after taking in everything you just told him and you nodded in agreement even though that was the furthest thing on your mind right then.

"Come on, let's go inside." Rick said gently motioning towards the prison and you reluctantly nodded as you grabbed your crossbow from the ground before following the man towards the building. You weren't ready to face everyone yet, but you wanted to find Daryl. He had never showed that kind of physical anger towards you, but you knew he didn't mean it.

As the two of you walked into the prison you sighed with relief noticing no one was in the kitchen sitting area, but that meant everyone was in the cellblock which was exactly where you and Rick were heading.

You could hear them all talking quietly amongst themselves but as soon as you and Rick walked in they all went quiet and stared at the two of you. Most of them were all standing and sitting by the right wall while Beth slowly walked around the room with Judith in her arms. It was clear just by the look on everyones faces that they knew what had happened either from Daryl or Carl telling them.

"Y/N, I'm so sorry." Maggie suddenly said breaking the silence as she took a step towards you, but you shook your head making your way towards the stairs to go to yours and Daryl's cell figuring he would be in there.

"Daryl isn't here." Glenn stated causing you to freeze as you reached the top of the stairs before turning around. You looked at the other group members properly for the first time noticing they were looking at you with sympathy and you shook your head. You didn't want their sympathy, you didn't want their sorrow, you just wanted Merle back.

"Where is he?" You questioned hating how rough and fragile your voice sounded as you glanced around between the rest of your group waiting for someone to answer.

"He took off further into the prison, I think he just needs some space for a while." Hershel answered and you sighed but nodded. If Daryl just disappeared in the prison without telling you where he was going then you knew he wanted to be left alone and you weren't about to take that from him.

"I'll take watch tonight. Is the sniper up in the tower?" You asked, looking over at Rick who nodded reluctantly as he walked over to you.

"Someone else can take watch tonight. You should sit down and rest." Rick said gently, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder but you shook your head. You couldn't just sit in your cell all night and do nothing. At least in the guard tower you could do something to keep your mind off things and you just wanted to be alone.

"At least have something to eat." Carol said to your left, but you shook your head again.

"I'm not hungry." You simply answered before you walked out the room not giving anyone a chance to say anything else as you made your way outside. It had only been a few minutes since you were out here with Rick, but it was dark outside.

You slowly climbed the stairs to the guard tower spotting Daryl's poncho still on the floor from this morning and the sniper rifle leant up against the door that lead to the outside platform. You grabbed the rifle checking the chamber of the gun to make sure it wasn't loaded before you opened the door and walked out onto the platform.

The cool night breeze hitting your face as you raised the gun resting the butt firmly against your shoulder while you looked through the scope and scanned the fence line of the prison. The sun had long disappeared, but it was a full moon so you could see fairly well, even through the scope of the rifle.

Once you finished scanning the fence line, making sure there weren't any breaches along the prison fence or anything you slung your crossbow off your back. Gently you put it on the ground as you sat down on the platform leaning your back against the wall as you rested the rifle across your lap. You could still see the whole field and fences of the prison from where you were, so it didn't matter if you sat down.

A few minutes passed as you stared up at the stars thinking about something your mother used to say to you whenever she'd find you sitting outside looking up at the stars after your father passed away.

_"You see the brightest star over there? It's not just an ordinary star, it's an opening in heaven where the love of our lost ones pour through and shines down upon us, to let us know that they are happy. Your father is up there smiling down at you, he's happy and in a better place."_

You could still hear her voice in your head as she said to you, her real voice, not her drunken slur that you gotten so used to hearing a few years later. You hoped that she was right, you hoped that there was some type of heaven or afterlife. You had to believe that, you had to believe that the people you had lost in this cruel world were now at peace. You had to believe that Merle was somewhere without sadness, without pain. Somewhere better, where he was safe and happy.

You didn't even realise you were crying again until you felt a tear drop from your cheek onto your arm. You sighed as you stared up at the starry night sky thinking back to the first time you met Merle.

_You would have been nearly 14 years old, you and Daryl had been best friends for a while now and you knew he had an older brother, but you had never met him. You and Daryl never really hung out at each others houses because of his father and Frank. You always hung out down the street or in the woods when you'd go out hunting together, so you never really had the chance to properly meet Merle. Of course, you had heard about all the rumours around the town and at school about the older Dixon brother. Everyone stayed clear of Merle, knowing that man was nothing but trouble and all the kids at school were terrified of him, but you weren't. He was Daryl's brother and although you had never met the older Dixon, you had seen him a quite a few times in the front yard of his house working on his motorcycle or smoking on the front porch._

_It wasn't until nearly two years after you moved into town that you properly met Merle Dixon. It happened when you were walking home from the food store, Frank and your mother had been gone for most the week to God knows where and you had next to no food in the house._

_You managed to find ten dollars worth of coins down the sides of the couch and figured you could at least buy a loaf of bread or something from the store since you had no idea when they would be getting home._

_You were on your way home, walking along the footpath holding your shopping bag when suddenly someone came up behind you and pushed you to the ground. You barely had any time to try save yourself as fell to the ground, your head slamming against the pavement causing you to drop the shopping bag. You looked up to find three guys probably a few years older than you standing above you._

_"Give us the bag and all your money." One of the men said pointing to the plastic bag beside you as you sat yourself up slightly on the ground looking up at them in slight panic. They were trying to rob you and you knew you should be terrified right now, but what were they gonna take, the loaf of bread and a few cans of beans? You literally had nothing else on you and you just spent all the money you had._

_"Take the bag, but I don't have any money." You replied, you weren't stupid enough to try fight against the three guys. If there was only one of them then you probably would have, but not three. You watched as one of the guys grabbed the plastic bag from besides you but he quickly froze when a loud voice yelled at him from somewhere behind you._

_"You boys wouldn't be tryin' to rob this young girl now would ya?" The voice questioned and you frowned trying to figure out who was helping you. The only person you could think of who would help you was Daryl, but that voice definitely didn't belong to your best friend, although the person did have a very similar southern drawl._

_"Umm no. No. We saw her trip over and we just trying to help her." One of the guys stuttered in panic as they all began taking a few steps back as the mysterious man walked over to them now in your line of sight. You grinned realising why those guys were now shitting themselves. Merle Dixon. But why was Merle helping you? He didn't even know you._

_"Bullshit." Merle responded as he clenched his fist and before you even knew what was happening he punched the man holding your bag right in the nose. Even from your spot on the ground you could see blood dripping down his nose. Shit. This is not going to end well._

_"Alright, they have learnt their lesson." You finally spoke up as you got to your feet taking a few steps towards the four men. Three of which were pale and almost shaking with fear. You would have liked to see the three guys get punished for trying to rob from you, but you didn't want anyone getting sent to the hospital or for the police to be called_

_"Nah, I don't reckon they have." Merle replied, not taking his eyes off the three guys as he slammed his fist into the side of one of their heads. The man falling to the ground instantly, but he was still conscious thank God._

_"Stop!" You shouted, quickly running between Merle and the three guys as you held your hand out to try and get Merle to stop. "Get out of here and don't come near me again. Go!" You yelled over your shoulder at the three men who frantically nodded before they took off running down the road, trying to put as much distance between them and Merle as possible._

_"What the hell?!" Merle suddenly shouted causing you to turn back around to him. Suddenly you realised you were standing alone in the street with a slightly angry Merle Dixon. Shit. You probably should have thought this through._

_"Thank you for stopping them, but you didn't need to break their noses. I can take care of myself." You responded, not really knowing what to say to the older Dixon, but you didn't want to seem weak in front of him._

_"Oh yeah, 'cause you totally had that situation under control didn't ya Sugar?" Merle replied with a grin and you relaxed slightly noticing his anger was disappearing._

_"What the hell's goin' on?" Daryl's voice yelled and you glanced over your shoulder to find Daryl walking down the road towards the two of you, a slight frown on his face as he stared at you and Merle._

_"Just havin' a friendly chat, aren't we Sugar?" Merle said looking over at you before back at his brother who was already glaring at him._

_"Her name is Y/N." Daryl muttered glancing over at you as you began walking over to him, but you didn't miss the sudden flare of anger in his eyes when he spotted the cut on your cheek from when you hit the pavement earlier. You knew it was bleeding, but it wasn't anything serious._

_"Did ya do that to her?" Daryl questioned, his eyes snapping over at his older brother as he took a few steps towards him before you quickly grabbed his shoulder, holding him back._

_"He didn't touch me. There was a group of guys that tried to rob me and Merle got rid of them." You quickly explained as you stood in front of Daryl, blocking his view from his older brother as you tried to calm him down. "I'm fine, Daryl. It's just a graze." You added as Daryl turned his attention back to you, your eyes locking with his crystal blue ones before he nodded, but you didn't take your hand from his shoulder._

_"Wait. Wait. This is the girl you've been hanging around with for the past year or two and y_ _a_ _haven't asked her out yet? Look at her!" Merle suddenly commented causing you to roll your eyes as you turned around to face the older Dixon who was staring at you both with an amused grin._

_"We're friends, Merle. That's it. Come on." Daryl said picking up your plastic bag from the ground before he grabbed your hand as you began walking in the direction of your homes._

_"See ya around, Y/N." Merle shouted and you could hear the amusement in his voice causing you to roll your eyes as you glanced over your shoulder._

_"Bye, Merle." You responded before turning back to Daryl who was looking at you in confusion. "What's with that look?"_

_"Nah, nothin'." Daryl muttered shaking his head, looking down at the ground as the two of you continued walking._

_"Come on Dixon, it's me you're talking to. What's going inside that big head of yours?" You asked, trying to make him smile as you looked across at him as he shook his head, but you didn't miss the slight upturn of his lips as he bumped into you playfully and you chuckled._

_"Ya don't seem that bothered by Merle... Most people after meetin_ _'_ _him either hate him or fear him." Daryl answered with a shrug._

_"He doesn't seem too bad. Plus, if I can put up with you, then I sure as hell can put up your brother." You replied causing Daryl to laugh. "Feel like_ _tin spaghetti_ _on toast for lunch?" You asked pointing towards the plastic bag in Daryl's hand as he opened it with a smile and nodded._

Man, you missed lose days where the only thing you had to worry about was Daryl's father, Frank and making sure Merle didn't get himself put in jail. God, you took those days fore granted.

If only you had realised what Merle was up to. When you and Daryl last spoke to him you knew something was up, but you just couldn't figure out what. If only you connected the dots sooner, maybe then you could have stopped him from trying to take down the Governor on his own. You might not have been able to convince him to stop, but you could have gone him with. Maybe if you were there with him things would have ended differently, maybe Merle would still be alive, maybe with your help he could have killed the Governor.

Merle definitely wasn't anyone's favourite person in the group and if you were being honest some of them were probably glad he wasn't here anymore, but Merle was like a big brother to you. You literally just found him, after years of thinking you would never see him again and now he was gone and there was nothing you could do about it.

The longer you thought about Merle, the more everything began to sink in and the fact that Merle was really gone had hit you. You weren't going to see him again, you weren't going to hear his voice or his laugh anymore. You weren't going to see that stupid cocky grin of his that made you want to punch him sometimes. You weren't going to hear him teasing Daryl or making silly comments about the two of you together. It was over.

You quickly stood up grabbing the railing of the platform with a vice-like grip trying to keep yourself calm, but you could feel your body shaking as you leant against the railing. It only took a few seconds before the tears began falling from your eyes and suddenly you were unable to stop it as you broke down, emotion washing over you.

There was no one around to hear your pain as you sobbed, your breathing ragged, struggling to get air into your lungs from the crying. You dropped your head, wishing Daryl was with you, wishing he was there so you could comfort each other, neither of you should have to go through this alone.

You cried for what felt like hours, your sobs echoing through the cool night air. You had no idea when you sat back down against the wall, but that was where you were now.

"Rest easy, Merle." You whispered, tears clouding your vision as you stared up at the stars.

 


	15. Chapter 15

  
He had no idea how long he spent aimlessly walking around the dark hallways of the prison, but by the time he eventually made his way back into the cellblock everyone had gone to sleep in their cells. He must have been gone for at least a few hours, but he didn't care. He knew he probably looked like shit, his eyes were no doubt red and bloodshot from all his tears earlier, but everyone was asleep now so it didn't matter.

He glanced upstairs towards the cell he shared with you and figured you had gone to sleep since he couldn't see any candle lights shinning in the cell.

Not wanting to wake you up, he made his way towards the other door that lead to the kitchen type area next to the cellblocks. He wasn't sure what he was gonna do, but he didn't want to sit around and do nothing. If he didn't keep his mind busy, his thoughts would just drift to Merle and he had cried enough today to last him a lifetime.

"Daryl, you okay?" Somebody suddenly questioned to his right, but he didn't need to turn around to know that the voice belonged to Rick. It was a stupid question, of course he wasn't okay, he just lost his brother. But as Daryl looked over in Rick's direction, spotting him sitting on one of the tables he realised Rick was lost for words. He always knew what to say and when to say it, but right now Rick seemed almost helpless as he stared at his best friend wishing he could help.

Rick knew exactly what it was like to lose someone you love, but he still didn't know what to say to try make them feel better.

"Why are ya still awake?" Daryl questioned, not bothering to answer Rick's question as he cleared his throat trying to make his voice sound less hoarse as he looked over at Rick.

"I was debating whether to go outside and try convince Y/N to come back. It's probably like two in the morning by now. She shouldn't be out there on her own after what just happened. Hell, I didn't want to let you wander around the prison by yourself after what just happened, but I figured you wanted some space." Rick responded and Daryl nodded, giving Rick an unspoken thank you, before it suddenly clicked in his head what Rick just said about you and how you were outside.

"Wait, I thought Y/N was in bed. Where is she?" Daryl quickly questioned, glancing over at the door that led to the cellblock before turning back to Rick who sighed, rubbing his face with his hands.

"She's in the guard tower. I've tried to get her to come back inside the prison, but she won't listen and I'm pretty sure if I try talk to her again she'll kill me." Rick responded and Daryl nodded with a sigh. Yep, that sounded like Y/N. Why would she want to stay in the guard tower all night? Daryl thought to himself, but he figured it was the same reason he wandered around the hallways of the prison for hours. She wanted to keep herself busy and her mind focused on something other than Merle, she probably wanted some space and not be around anyone, which he understood completely. But it's probably been over seven hours since the two of you got back to the prison and he didn't like the thought of her being outside by herself, especially with the Governor still out there.

"I'll go try convince her to come back, she might listen to me." Daryl said after a few minutes of silence as he began walking towards the door that lead to the courtyard.

"I can try talk to her again, you should just rest." Rick suddenly called, standing up from the table as Daryl turned around shaking his head.

"Nah, I shouldn't have left her alone to begin with." He replied, looking over at Rick who nodded in understanding before Daryl made his way outside. He had no idea what to say to her, just the thought of talking about Merle right now made him want to cry, but he doubted he had any tears left to cry after the past couple of hours.

-

You had cried for hours, but now there was nothing left inside of you but the raw emptiness you felt in your heart as you sat on the platform of the watch tower, leaning against the wall. You had no idea what time it was, but it didn't really matter, it wasn't like you were going to sleep any time soon anyway.

You sat there fiddling with your hunting knife, twirling it around your fingers to try distract yourself when you hear footsteps coming up the stairs of the watch tower and you sighed. This was the third time Rick had came up and tried getting you to come back inside, has he not taken the hint already? You aren't ready to go back and face everyone, especially not after all the sympathetic looks you were getting when you went inside to begin with.

After a few seconds you heard the door that lead to the inside of the watch tower open and you sighed, not bothering to glance at the door as you stared down at the knife in your hand.

"Rick, I swear to God if you ask me to come back inside one more time I am gonna snap. I'm fine, plus someone needs to keep watch anyway." You stated hating how weak your voice sounded as you fiddled with the knife in your hand, not wanting to look over at Rick knowing your eyes would still be red from crying.

"I ain't Rick." A familiar southern voice responded causing you to quickly turn towards the voice as Daryl walked over to you, taking a seat against the wall beside you as he pulled you into a tight hug. Neither of you said anything for a few minutes as Daryl held you against his chest, his head resting on top of yours. You could hear his uneven breaths and soft sniffles and you knew he was crying as you hugged him tighter. You could feel tears beginning to rise in your eyes, but you forced them away.

"M'sorry." Daryl whispered, his voice slightly wavered with emotion as he pulled away from you, leaning back against the wall beside you. "I shouldn't have pushed ya earlier, God I could have hurt ya. I wasn't thinkin' straight and I just left ya there alone, after what just happened, I shouldn't have left ya alone... I'm sorry."

"Don't. It's not your fault, we both needed time alone for a bit." You responded, trying your best to keep your voice strong but even you could hear the brokenness in your tone as you picked up your knife in your lap and began fiddling with it again.

"I should have know he was gonna try do somethin' like this, I could have stopped him-" Daryl began to mutter before you cut him off.

"Don't blame yourself. Merle did what he thought was right, he tried putting an end to all of this." You replied softly, looking over at Daryl as you reached for his hand, lacing your fingers together. You knew you wouldn't be able to take his pain away and there was nothing you could possibly say to make him feel better after his brother just died, but you can try and comfort him.

"How can ya be so strong right now?" He suddenly asked after a few minutes of silence and you shrugged your shoulders not really expecting that question. You weren't strong, you had broken down to tears whimpers only a few hours ago, but from past experiences you knew in order to heal you had to let yourself feel it first.

"Because I've been through this before... When my mother killed herself at the start of all this, I had no one. I thought you and Merle were gone and even if you were alive the chances of me ever finding you were basically zero. The whole world was changing and I didn't know what to do. I thought I was alone and I didn't want to live anymore... I-I couldn't see a way out so I grabbed Frank's gun held it to my head and I pulled the damn trigger, but there weren't any bullets left..." You trailed off looking out towards the woods as tears began rising in your eyes. You had never told anyone about that and you weren't proud of it either, but in a way it had shaped you into the person you were today and you shouldn't be ashamed of your past.

"Y/N..." Daryl said softly squeezing your hand as he looked over at you in shock and sadness.

"I don't want your pity or anything like that, my point is; you will get through this. I know right now it seems impossible, but you will get through this, Dixon. We will get through this." You replied, trying to keep your voice strong.

"How do ya know?" Daryl asked and you hated how weak his voice sounded as you looked over at him, giving him a sad smile.

"Because we have to. Everyone's lost people they love, but we keep moving forward, keep battling on through this screwed up world because that's what they would've wanted. Merle would want us to keep fighting and if he saw us right now he would kick both our asses." You answered a silent tear running down your cheek as you thought of Merle, but you smiled hearing Daryl chuckle beside you. Neither of you said anything for a while as you both stared up at the stars before you heard Daryl yawn from besides you.

"C'mon, lay down and get some sleep." You said softly motioning towards your lap and you weren't sure whether it was a good or bad thing that Daryl didn't argue with you, but you didn't comment on it as Daryl began to lay down, his head resting in your lap. You smiled softly as he began to relax while you ran your fingers gently through his hair.

It didn't take long before he eventually fell asleep which was good. He needed all the rest he could get because you knew tomorrow was not going to be good. The Governor would be coming and he won't stop till he kills every single one of you.

-

Eventually the sun began to rise, casting shimmering rays over the field of walkers in front of you. Usually the sunrise brought you peace and happiness, but not this morning. This morning there was nothing to smile about as you looked through the scope of the sniper rifle, scanning the prison fence lines. Merle was dead and the Governor was still alive out there somewhere... It shouldn't be like that. It should be the other way around! Merle shouldn't be gone, he was just starting to prove himself to the group, he was just staring to make things right by Daryl. God, this was so screwed up.

"Y/N?" Daryl's rough voice called and you glanced over your shoulder as he sat himself up against the wall in confusion, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Hey, sorry I didn't mean to wake you. How'd you sleep?" You asked slinging the sniper rifle over your shoulder next to your crossbow as you walked across the platform towards him, holding your hand out.

"Alright." He answered taking your hand as you helped him up before giving him a gentle kiss. "Ya didn't sleep did ya?" Daryl muttered, already knowing the answer as he cupped your cheek taking in your tired eyes and you shook your head.

"Come on. Rick and the others seem to be packing up the cars in the courtyard, he must have come up with a plan." You stated, changing the topic quickly as you grabbed Daryl's hand before the two of you made your way out the watchtower.

Rick spotted the two of you straight away and explained what was happening. You guys were going to make it seem like you had left the prison with all your gear stashed away in two of the cars that Hershel, Carl, Beth and Judith were going to take into the woods to hide. The rest of you were gonna hide in the prison and wait for the Governor and his men to rock up before you ambush them.

It was a good plan, Maggie and Glenn were gonna hide outside in the catwalk behind the wood and metal pallets while Rick, Carol, Daryl and yourself were gonna hide inside the prison. But you knew the chances of killing the Governor were still low, even with an ambush. He would have all his men in front of him in the firing lines and as soon as you guys start to fire he would no doubt try and retreat. 

"You two sure you're up for this?" Rick questioned, glancing over his shoulder towards you and Daryl as the group of you began making your way through the dark hallways of the prison, getting ready to ambush the Governor and his men when they attack.

You needed to go somewhere where you could get a clear shot of the Governor, you had to kill him. There was no point hiding in the prison when you could hide somewhere outside with the sniper rifle and end this once and for all. He killed Merle and you weren't gonna stop until you made him pay.

"Yeah, ain't no way I'm sittin' this out after what he did." Daryl muttered adjusting his grip on his crossbow before looking over at you beside him as ran your fingers through your hair anxiously shaking your head.

"I-I'm gonna go help Maggie and Glenn. I need some fresh air." You answered looking away from Daryl as you fought back tears. You weren't going to let Merle die for nothing, the Governor was going to pay.

"Hey." Daryl suddenly called grabbing your arm stopping you from walking away as you turned around to meet his worried gaze. "Just be careful." He said and you nodded, glancing over at Rick and Carol behind Daryl who looked away giving you and Daryl some privacy before you turned around and began walking back in the direction of Glenn and Maggie.

Instead of going through the door that lead to the catwalk where Glenn and Maggie were currently hiding, you walked over to the other door that you knew lead to the courtyard. With your crossbow in your hands and sniper rifle slung over your shoulder, you opened the door and slowly made your way outside.

Your first idea was to hide in one of the watch towers and wait for them to come, but you thought better of it. The watch towers would be the first thing they fired at, you wouldn't last a second up in there. Instead you spotted a couple of the cars and Merle's old motorcycle parked around the other side of the brick prison walls and figured that would have to do.

You sat behind one of the trucks, your crossbow now slung over your shoulder and the sniper rifle laying across your lap as you waited for the Governor and his men to come. You weren't sure when they were going to arrive, but you knew it would be today.

You stayed there for nearly 30 minutes before suddenly the sound of engines revving filled the air. You glanced over the bonnet of the truck spotting four large military vehicles speeding towards the prison when they began firing at the watch towers with what seemed to be grenade launchers and machine guns. Shit, if you were up there you would have been dead for sure.

As you suspected a few of the trucks hit the spike traps and barbed wire you guys set up a few days ago and you grinned watching as the others vehicles quickly came to a stop. But in a split second your grin disappeared as they began firing heavy machine guns at all the walkers in the field, stray bullets hitting the brick walls of the prison around you. You quickly ducked back behind the tyre of the truck, trying to make yourself as small as possible as bullets slammed against the glass and metal of the truck.

The gunfire only lasted a couple of seconds, but it felt like hours before everything went quiet. You waited a few more seconds to make sure it had actually stopped before you grabbed the sniper rifle making sure there was a bullet in the chamber as you dropped to the ground, laying on your stomach as you rested the butt of the rifle against your shoulder.

You scanned the courtyard of the prison through the scope before you spotted one of their trucks driving through the last gate of the prison allow the Governors army to run into the courtyard behind the truck. There would have had to be more than 50 soldiers all armed with some form of assault rifles. You knew that if you were going to kill the Governor then you needed to make sure you had a clear shot, if you fired and missed then you were as good as dead. You had to have a clear shot.

You watched through the scope of the rifle as the men began heading towards the door to Section C, you could see the Governor clearly but he was behind some of his men. There was no way you'd be able to take that shot, despite how good you were with a rifle. You kept watching as they began disappearing into the prison and you knew you were gonna have to wait for them to come back out if you wanted to take a shot.

As you suspected it didn't take long before gunfire erupt inside the prison and you knew that the Governors men had found the walkers deep inside the prison and you had no doubt that Rick, Daryl, Michonne and Carol had started firing at them as well.

It didn't take long before the Governors men all began retreating out the prison, screaming and shouting as they ran into the courtyard, trying to make a run for it to all the trucks in the field. You could hear Maggie and Glenn firing at the soldiers from the catwalk and you knew it was now or never.

You quickly got to your feet, leaning against the bonnet of the truck as you scanned the courtyard looking for the Governor. For a second you thought someone had already beat you to it, it was possible with bullets flying everywhere he could have easily been shot. But then you spotted him as he made a run for it across the field towards the last truck still in the field. Shit, he's getting away.

"No!" You yelled, grabbing the rifle from the bonnet of the truck as you sprinted towards the now broken gate in the courtyard that lead to the field. Glenn and Maggie were shouting your name from the catwalk, but you weren't listening as you raised the rifle aiming the crosshairs of the scope at the back of the Governors body before you squeezed the trigger.

"That's for you, Merle." You whispered watching as the bullet pierced through the Governor's chest, if that didn't hit his heart it sure as hell would have punctured one of his lungs which meant he only had a few minutes before he was dead.

You watched as the Governor turned in your direction and it didn't take him long to spot you standing by the now broken gate of the courtyard and even from a distance you could tell he was furious.

You quickly tried to reload the gun as the Governor's men helped him climb into the truck. But before you could raise your rifle again sudden gunfire erupted from the window of the truck as a bullet teared through your abdomen sending waves of pain through your body as you grabbed hold of the prison fence beside you to stop yourself from falling to the ground.

"Son of a bitch." You muttered glaring at the Governor's truck as it sped away with the other vehicles before you looked down at your lower stomach, your shirt slowly turning red from your blood.

 


	16. Chapter 16

"We did it. We drove them out." Rick stated as they walked out the prison into the courtyard waiting for you, Glenn and Maggie to come down from the catwalk where they were hiding.

"We should go after 'em and finish it." Daryl muttered, taking in the destroyed watchtowers and field of dead walkers as Glenn came sprinting over to them from around the corner of the prison.

"Where's Y/N and Maggie?" Rick shouted as the group of them began walking towards Glenn, but quickly stopped when they noticed his panicked expression. Something was wrong, something was horribly wrong by the look on Glenn's face.

"Y/N's been shot." Glenn responded breathlessly motioning towards where he just came from as Daryl took off running, not wasting anytime as Rick and the others followed right behind him.

"How bad is it?" Daryl heard Rick question from behind him somewhere, but before he could hear Glenn's reply he spotted Maggie standing in front of you by the wire fence. He couldn't see you properly, but he could tell that you were holding your stomach and even from the distance he could see the blood seeping through your shirt

"My Daddy will fix you up Y/N, it's going to be okay." Maggie tried reassuring, but you could hear the panic in her voice as she stared down at the blood which was now seeping through your fingers as you tried to keep pressure on the wound. It wasn't looking good.

"How bad is it?" Daryl questioned as he suddenly appeared from behind Maggie and his eyes went wide when he spotted the wound. "Shit. No. No. No." Daryl muttered as he quickly pulled your shirt up to inspect the wound on your stomach.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." You groaned, gasping in pain as Daryl pressed his hand against the wound to try slow the bleeding. Black dots began to cloud your vision as you closed your eyes, trying to compose yourself. "The Governor... I shot him in the chest. Y-You have to go after them, he'll be bleeding out. You need to finish this." You mumbled before everything turned black.

-

"Hershel!" Rick shouted running into the cellblock to find Hershel, Carl and Beth walking through the back door with Judith in Beth's arms. Rick sighed with relief, glad that his kids were alright before Daryl came rushing into the room with your unconscious body in his arms. "Y/N's been shot." Rick quickly explained, wasting no time as Daryl laid you down on one of the beds. His shaky hands still pressed firmly against the wound on your stomach as he forced himself to stay calm despite the tears building up in his eyes.

"Carol get me the first aid kit. Beth grab more blankets. Daryl, I need you to step away and let me look at her." Hershel ordered from behind him somewhere, but Daryl couldn't hear him, all he was focused on now was your lifeless body in front of him. He can't lose you, not after everything that had happened. He only just got you back, he couldn't do this without you... he just couldn't.

"Daryl, let Hershel do his job." Rick said placing his hand on Daryl's shoulder, snapping him back to the real world as Hershel lent over your body, pressing his hands against the bullet wound as Daryl took a few stumbling steps backwards giving Hershel some room.

"Please, save her." He mumbled staring at Hershel and within seconds Carol and Beth rushed into the room with the first aid kit and blankets as Hershel began cutting open your shirt to get a better look at the wound.

"There's an exit wound, which is good. But I need to stitch it, she's losing blood fast." Hershel stated as Beth quickly exited the room giving Hershel and Carol some space. Rick and Daryl stayed in the cell, standing by the wall behind the older man as he worked on you while the others all stood around outside the cell, waiting anxiously for some good news.

"I-I can't lose her... I can't lose her too." Daryl whispered, his voice breaking as he stared your pale body. He had never seen you look so weak, so vulnerable and he couldn't do anything to help you.

"Y/N's strong Daryl, she's going to pull through." Rick said softly, his hand still on his friend's shoulder as Daryl shook his head feeling tears slowly run down his face. This can't be happening, how'd she even get shot in the first place? She was meant to be hiding with Glenn and Maggie.

"How'd this happen?" Daryl suddenly questioned, unable to just stand and watch as Hershel began stitching your bleeding stomach. "How'd she get shot?" He asked, turning to look at Glenn and Maggie who were leaning against the doorframe of the cell watching Hershel work.

"She went after the Governor. Once they started to run back to their trucks she went after him. She didn't stand a chance, even if she killed him, his men would have fired at her anyway, either way she probably would have been shot... I don't know what she was thinking." Glenn said shaking his head as he looked over at Daryl who stared at him in shock.

"Wait, she went after the Governor alone?" Daryl questioned in disbelief, anger rising in his voice as he looked back over at you, but his anger quickly disappeared as he stared at your unconscious body. God what was she thinking? Merle died trying to take on the Governor alone, why would she do that too?

-

***2 Hours Later***

"She's stable and as long as she doesn't start running around as soon as she wakes up, she'll be fine." Hershel suddenly said standing up to allow Daryl to sit down beside his girlfriend which is exactly what he did.

"Thank God." Daryl sighed, kneeling down beside you as he brushed a few stray hairs out of your face which was slowly starting to get some colour back into it. He stayed with you while the others all left the cell, wanting to give him some time alone with you.

He inspected the bandage that Hershel had wrapped around your stomach to help keep the wound from getting infected. You still had deep blue and yellow bruises lining your rib cage from back at Woodbury and Daryl sighed. How'd he let you get this hurt? It's his job to protect you... he couldn't even do that.

"Daryl, we're going after the Governor, we have to finish it. If Y/N really did shoot him, then we have a chance to end this. We can't let him get away." Rick said walking into the cell to find Daryl still seated beside your bed and he sighed. "Glenn, Michonne and I can do it on our own, but I'd feel better if you were by our side."

"I can't leave her, Rick. If something happens..." Daryl trailed off shaking his head, he can't afford to think like that. Hershel said you were going to be fine, nothing was going to happen.

"I'll stay with her. You guys need to finish this before someone else gets hurt." Carol suddenly said as she walked into the cell placing a comforting hand on Daryl's shoulder as he sighed trying to decide what to do. "Hershel said she won't wake up for a few hours, she'll probably still be asleep by the time you guys get back." Carol added and Daryl nodded as he leant down placing a soft kiss on your forehead before he followed Rick out the cell. The Governor was going to pay for this.

-

When you opened your eyes the first thing you were aware of was how much your stomach was hurting as you stared up at the top bunk bed above you in confusion. Why am I in the cellblock? Weren't we fighting the Government and... oh shit, the bullet wound.

You quickly tried to sit yourself up to take a look at your stomach when suddenly a hand grabbed your shoulder easing you back down on the mattress.

"Easy now. You don't want to bust the stitches." A familiar female voice said and you glanced to the side to find Carol sitting next to your bed with a smile.

"C-Carol?" You tried to ask, your voice coming out groggy as Carol quickly handed you a bottle of water, helping you take a couple of sips along with some painkillers. "Where is everyone? Did we win?" You asked in a clearer voice after a few seconds.

"Not yet. Rick and the others have gone after the Governor to finish it." Carol answered and you nodded slowly, your mind still trying to process everything that had happened.

You laid there for nearly an hour, Carol sitting beside you most the time keeping you company, but you were already bored out of your mind.

"I'm gonna go insane if I have lay here any longer. I'm going outside for some fresh air." You stated after nearly an hour of just laying down doing nothing. You ignored Carol's protests to rest as you carefully sat yourself up before you got to your feet, nearly falling over in the process as you became light headed.

"You lost a lot of blood, you shouldn't be out of bed yet." Carol commented hovering right beside you in case you happen to fall over, but it was clear she wasn't going to try stop you from walking. "Here, I figured you'd want a new shirt since yours was kinda bloodied and cut open." Carol said handing you a button down flannel and you smiled as you began putting it on. This is probably like the third or forth shirt you have had to borrow in the span of like three weeks, this is ridiculous.

Even with the painkillers you could still feel the sharp pain from the bullet wound with each slow step as you made your way out the cell, but you didn't care. You were used to a little pain, you just wanted to go outside and wait for Daryl and the others to come back.

"You just got shot a few hours ago, shouldn't you be still in bed?" Beth questioned in concern as she walked into the cellblock with Judith in her arms and you shrugged your shoulders.

"Probably." You simply responded as you made your way towards the door. It took you a while but eventually you made it outside and you sighed with relief as you felt the afternoon sun hit your skin.

"Glenn and Maggie managed to fix the gate between the courtyard and the field, so no walkers can get in." Carol explained as you looked over at the now closed gate and nodded. That was smart, you didn't even think of that.

The two of you sat down on one of the metal tables in the courtyard for a few minutes. Hershel came by and told you to take it easy and to not bust your stitches, but he didn't force you to go back inside the prison.

Eventually Carol went back inside to help Beth with Judith. You stayed outside sitting on the table in the courtyard, Glenn and Maggie had joined you outside, taking a seat at the makeshift table. But as the familiar roar of Merle's old motorcycle filled the air the two love birds ran over to the gate getting ready to open it.

You stayed where you were as you watched in confusion as Daryl rode through the gate parking in the usual spot on the other side of the courtyard followed by one of your cars and a large bus. Where the hell did they get a bus from?

You knew Daryl hadn't spotted you yet, but just as you were about to call out to him the bus door suddenly opened as unfamiliar people began walking out slowly. It took you a few seconds to put two and two together as you realised that those people must be civilians from Woodbury. But if they were the civilians from Woodbury what happened to all the soldiers and the Governor? Were they dead? Did they get away?

You watched as Hershel, Beth and Carol began taking the new people inside and although you weren't too comfortable with the idea of living and sleeping next to the people from Woodbury, you trusted Rick and Daryl. They knew what they were doing and if they thought these people weren't bad, then that was good enough for you.

As the last of the new people walked into the prison you watched as Maggie walked over to Daryl and Rick telling them something before pointing in your direction. The two men quickly turned around scanning the courtyard until their eyes landed on and they both instantly relaxed realising that you were okay.

You gave Rick a wave as he followed Michonne, Glenn and Maggie into the prison while Daryl made his way over to you.

"The hell ya doing out of bed? Ya should be restin'." Daryl muttered once he was close enough for you to hear him. You knew Daryl. You knew when he was angry even when he tries to hide it and now was one of those times.

"I'm fine. Carol gave me some painkillers and I can hardly feel it." You replied, but Daryl still didn't seem too happy as he took a seat next you with a sigh. "Hey, what is it?" You asked gently as you placed your hand on top of his before he stood up from the table, shaking your hand off as he turned to face you.

"What the hell were ya thinkin'? Going after the Governor on your own. That was a suicide mission, Y/N! You could have gotten yourself killed!" Daryl yelled, throwing his hands in the air in frustration as he stared at you in anger. You knew he was just worried about you, but you couldn't help the anger rising in your stomach as you shouted back.

"I don't care if it was a damn suicide mission or not. He killed Merle! We had to make it right, I had to try!" You shouted your voice breaking at the end as a tear rolled down your cheek. Daryl quickly calmed down, his eyes softer as he stared at you.

"I know." Daryl replied quietly as he sat back down beside you wrapping his arm over your shoulders. "I just can't lose ya too."

"It's gonna take more than a gunshot to get rid of me, Dixon. I ain't going anywhere." You responded trying to lighten the mood causing Daryl to smile slightly glancing over at you as you kissed him gently.

"We found the Governor's vehicles on the side of the road. All his soldiers were dead except one woman who was hidin' in one of 'em trucks." Daryl began to explain after a few minutes of silence as he stared out towards the field in front of the prison. "She said that the Governor just went crazy and started killin' everyone 'cause they retreated when he told them not to."

"Is the Governor... is he dead?" You asked looking over at Daryl as he nodded.

"The woman said he took one of the trucks and started driving towards Woodbury, but he didn't make it. We found his truck a few miles down the road, he was dead when we got there. Bled out from a bullet wound to his chest, that was you wasn't it?" Daryl asked, already knowing the answer as you nodded before he pulled you into a soft hug, not wanting to hurt your injury. The Governor was dead. You killed him... he's finally gone.

"Thank you." Daryl whispered, resting his head on your shoulder as you hugged him back. It was over, it was finally over. Merle didn't die for nothing, the war was over between you and Woodbury. It was finally over.

"C'mon we better go help Rick with the new people." You said after a few minutes as you pulled away from Daryl, grabbing his hand as you stood up a little too quickly and nearly fell over.

"Whoa. I gotcha." Daryl quickly said grabbing your shoulders as he gently guided you back down to the table as he sat you down beside him, his arm still around your shoulder. "Ya good?" He asked worriedly and you nodded blinking a few times until the ground stopped spinning.

"Yeah, let's just stay here for a little bit longer." You replied with a soft chuckle and Daryl nodded in agreement as you both watched the sun slowly dip behind the trees in the distance.

"I bet when we were kids you never thought our lives would turn out like this, huh?" You suddenly asked as you grabbed his free hand, lacing your fingers together.

"Not in a million years. But I'm glad it did. Can't imagine livin' life without ya." Daryl admitted, glancing over at you before looking back at the sunset.

"Are you getting sentimental with me, Dixon?" You teased nudging him with your elbow softly as Daryl grinned shaking his head.

"Don't get used to it." He muttered unable to stop himself from smiling as you rested your head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of your head gently as you both admired the peaceful sunset. Maybe there were still good things left in this world after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe this series has come to an end, I loved writing this one a lot and I really miss the old prison days and more importantly Merle Dixon, he deserved better and I hope I did him some justice.   
> I have lot's more Daryl x Reader fics planned for the future, plus a couple Norman Reedus x Reader one-shots as well. But until then stay safe everyone and have a great day or night xx


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